Singer Helen Shapiro is on her last legs. The last legs, that is, of a 42-year non-stop tour for the glamorous pop-buster from Hackney.

Soon she will dedicate herself to performing Gospel and religious music instead of banging out the age-old pop tunes which brought her what must have seemed like public attention with no end.

This will be the end of a very long phase for the performer, who started out alongside one of the UK's biggest-ever pop phenomena.

She said: "My first UK tour was with the Beatles. They used to open the show but after the success of Please Please Me, they were promoted to headline act.

"Those boys were very excited and even used to practise signing their autographs."

But all good things must come to an end and she said: "I'm really tired of all the work involved and want to do what I want. Going full time with the Gospel thing has been in the pipeline for some time but there were certain restraints holding me back. Now I can move onto different ventures."

Looking ahead, Shapiro said: "The new shows are very low-key and we sometimes have one or two people playing the guitar. I talk about my faith in Jesus and we play in churches."

Before the singer joins the ranks of the Christian soldiers for good, fans have one last chance to catch a performance of tunes which read like milestones of 20th-century pop history. You Don't Know and Walkin' Back to Happiness will feature in next week's farewell concert at the Fairfield Halls, Croydon. And there will be support from Kenny Ball, Craig Douglas and Brian Mathew.

Catch Shapiro and friends in a concert which marks the end of a pop era.

- Helen Shapiro, Farewell Concert Tour, Fairfield Halls, Park Lane, Croydon, Oct 11, 8pm, £16.50/£14.50 conc, 020 8688 9291.