Cat Stevens thought he was being targeted by Great Train Robbery cops in Rio

The Father and Son singer was living in exile in Brazil at the time in a bid to avoid the taxman and save cash until a police raid spooked him

Cat Stevens feared British cops had tracked him down to Rio over tax bills – only to discover they were after Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs.

The Father and Son singer was living in exile in Brazil at the time in a bid to avoid the taxman and save cash. Cat, 77, revealed: “Rio de Janeiro wooed my adventurous spirit. It was the city in which I finally decided to put down my bags in 1974.

“While checking out villas to rent, I had booked into a room at the Tropicana hotel on Copacabana. Then, something crazy happened, like a chapter from an Ian Fleming novel.”

Cat said he was enjoying the quiet life until a police raid spooked him and left him convinced he was going to get pinched.

He explained: “It was almost too cloak-and-daggerish to believe. I’d put on my sunglasses to grab a cup of coffee on the beachfront. After an hour, feeling hot and bored with my own company, I decided to head back to my room to try and write a song.

“As I neared the hotel entrance, my heart stopped. The pavement outside was teeming with police cars, blue lights flashing. Oh no! I thought to myself, ‘The British tax authorities have found me.’

“In fact, the police had tracked down the whereabouts of Ronnie Biggs, the Great Train Robber, who was staying in the very same hotel. The famous detective chief superintendent, Jack Slipper, had apparently used information provided by the Daily Express, which led him to Room 909 at the Tropicana in February.

“Whew! What an escape for both of us. The officer had made a boob by not informing Interpol about the extradition. So Slipper had to leave empty-handed – and Ron and I were able to get on with our holidays.”

In his new book Cat: On The Road To Findout, the hit-maker said the “extortionate” 98% top rate of tax by Harold Wilson’s Labour government “did pain me”.

He added: “I was now hitting that illogical economic paradox: the more you earn, the less you get. I didn’t mind paying my share towards Britain’s public services and general social needs, but this was not like donating a pint of blood to the NHS – this was more akin to being chased with an axe!”