HIS father was the singing sensation who wowed a generation of lovestruck girls.

Now the women who once swooned over '70s pop star Donny Osmond could be opening their doors to find his teenage son on the doorstep.

And a York man is helping Don Osmond, 19, in his religious mission to win British hearts and minds.

Ben Adamson, of Foxwood Hill, Acomb, has been given the job of training Don Osmond and helping to settle him into the routine of a Mormon missionary during his two-year stay.

Ben has also helped him to cope with the attention of the media, fascinated by the contrast between his work on the streets for the church's London South Mission and the luxury Don grew up with in the USA following his father's success with teenybopper favourites like Puppy Love and Too Young.

Ben, 20, has been on his mission in London and the south-east for 11 months. His father, Michael, and four of his older brothers have been on missions or are currently on one.

So keen was Ben to take up this work, which is encouraged by the church but is entirely voluntary, that he financed himself by saving up while working as an auto-electrician for Yortec Ltd in Layerthorpe, and even sold his car.

His mother, Sandra, said: "It was quite a surprise when he wrote and told us that his junior companion was the son of Donny Osmond. They appear to be getting on extremely well together and Ben is not the kind of person to let all the media attention distract him."

Mrs Adamson added: "He says Don Osmond is a really good lad and he's enjoying working with him. I think it's been a bit of a surprise for Don Osmond to realise how popular he is."

One of Don's cousins was also working on a mission in London, and Ben had told her there were 60 cousins, all active in the church.

She said Donny Osmond, who recently appeared in a Broadway production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, now had a chat show in the USA with his singing sister, Marie.

It seems Don is not following in his father's footsteps as a singer, though he does have a musical side.

Sandra said Donny Osmond revealed in a television interview that his son was a talented drummer, which she thought had embarrassed Don.

She added Don had told her son he intended to finish his college studies when he returned to the USA.

Mrs Adamson said Don had been asked about going into show business in the television interview. "He said he had seen it, and it wasn't the line he wanted to take."

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