Sir Cliff Richard looks set to return to the charts just over a week after finding himself at the centre of a police sex abuse investigation.

Fans of the veteran pop star have been showing their support by buying copies of his 1992 number seven hit I Still Believe in You and it is less than 500 copies off the Top 40.

Midweek sales figures released by the Official Charts Company put the track at number 43 (August 20).

Sir Cliff this week announced that he was pulling out of a charity event at Canterbury Cathedral on September 26, with his spokesman saying the star “doesn’t want the event to be overshadowed by the false allegation and has therefore withdrawn”.

The singer’s apartment was searched by officers from South Yorkshire and Thames Valley police last week as part of an investigation into an alleged sexual assault on a young boy at a religious event in 1985.

Sir Cliff, who was in Portugal when the search took place, has firmly denied any wrongdoing.

The veteran pop star was also due to be handed the keys of his adopted Portuguese home city Albufeira – the city’s highest civic honour – but decided that he should pull out of the ceremony.

It is understood that he did not want the allegation to overshadow the event in Albufeira as other local individuals and organisations were also set to receive awards.

Sir Cliff bought his first villa on the edge of Albufeira in 1961. He tends to spend most of the summer in Portugal, flying out after Wimbledon and usually staying until September.

His current home is the third villa he has owned in the area, and is located in the small town of Guia.