A MUSICIAN has dropped his battle with Rod Stewart over his part in one of the legendary rocker's most famous songs.

Geordie songwriter Ray Jackson claims he composed the mandolin "hook" to the Scottish rocker's worldwide hit Maggie May in 1971 - and was paid only £15.

Stewart described the claims as "ludicrous", but 56-year-old Jackson recruited top law firm Davenport Lyons, who were so confident he could win his case they offered to work on a no win, no fee basis.

It had initially been thought a co-writing credit could earn him up to £1m, but a legal statute of limitations meant the Tyneside-born star would only have been able to claim royalties for the past six years.

Now he has reluctantly had to admit defeat, even before reaching court, because the cost of an insurance policy to cover himself in the event of losing the case would have been equal to the potential windfall he could have won.

Jackson, a member of the band Lindisfarne, who now lives in Oxfordshire, said: "I am drawing a line under the Maggie May story. I wrote the hook to one of the most successful songs recorded - not bad for a lad from Wallsend."

The sleeve of Stewart's Every Picture Tells a Story album reads: "The mandolin was played by the mandolin player in Lindisfarne. The name slips my mind."

Stewart's spokesman, Paul Bursche, said any contributions Ray Jackson made at the time of the recording were paid for at the time as "work for hire".

Published: 14/03/2005