HE was one of the biggest stars ever to perform in Oxford.

Since the concert date was announced last October, Sir Elton John fans from across Oxfordshire and beyond had been eagerly waiting for the big day to arrive.

And about 16,500 people took their seats in the late afternoon sun on Saturday to see the first major music event at the Kassam Stadium.

All afternoon, fans had been arriving in Oxford from as far away as Bournemouth and Staffordshire.

About 4,500 car parking spaces were allocated across the city for the concert-goers.

Park-and-ride shuttle buses ploughed their way to and from the stadium throughout the afternoon.

A 30-strong crew had been at Oxford United's ground since Monday, preparing the pitch and setting up the stage.

And on Saturday they took delivery of Sir Elton's piano, together with the lighting rigs, guitars and drums before the arrival of the Rocket Man himself by helicopter.

Staff at the Kassam were on strict orders to provide flowers, Twinings Tea, Diet Coke and San Pellegrino sparkling water for Sir Elton's dressing room.

Until a week ago there were about 3,000 tickets still up for grabs, but a last-minute surge in sales meant only 1,000 seats were empty.

Sir Elton was on stage for more than two hours and performed a 22-song set, spanning three decades.

Opening the gig with Bennie And The Jets, Sir Elton also performed classics including Sacrifice, Daniel, I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues, Philadelphia Freedom, Rocket Man, The One, Are You Ready For Love?, Crocodile Rock, I'm Still Standing and Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting).

He ended the concert with encores Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me and Your Song.

It has been more than 25 years since Sir Elton performed in Oxford his last visit was in 1979 when he played at the Apollo Theatre.

Organisers hailed the Kassam Stadium's first concert as a huge success and say it has opened the way for other big names to come to Oxford.

John Angus, operations director at the Kassam Stadium, said his team had opened up an extra 1,500 spaces by 4.30pm because of the influx of cars.

Motorists at Redbridge park-and-ride were directed to other sites because the car park was overflowing.

Mr Angus said: "The car parks were full. A lot of people were driving to the stadium thinking they could park there, so we opened up more car parking at Unipart which was very close."

He said the shuttle buses from the car parks carried 5,500 people in total and added 40 minutes after the concert had finished, everyone had gone.

Mr Angus said: "That was outstanding, we were really pleased. Forty minutes after the concert and the car park was empty. We are very, very pleased and had no negative feedback at all."

A number of fixed-penalty notices were put on cars parked illegally in nearby roads.

And there were no traffic difficulties at all for Sir Elton, who arrived in Oxford at about 6pm in his helicopter and flew out again at about 11.30pm.

A special phone line set up for residents to report problems with noise received no calls, Mr Angus said. And he added about 400 people listened to the concert sitting on a grassy bank outside the stadium.

Mr Angus added: "Because it was our first concert we expected something to go wrong, but I have to say it went exceptionally well. This has built the foundations for more. This was good for the people of Oxford."

He added staff would be conducting a thorough de-brief of the event before looking for their next big name.

But Mr Angus admitted Sir Elton would be a hard act to follow. He said: "It was important to start at the top and get it right."