Starr bailed by Savile probe police (From Hillingdon Times)

Starr bailed by Savile probe police

3:00am Friday 2nd November 2012 in National News © Press Association 2013

Comedian Freddie Starr has been released on police bail after being questioned by detectives investigating allegations of sexual abuse surrounding Jimmy Savile.

A man named by sources as Starr, 69, was arrested in Warwickshire on Thursday on suspicion of sexual offences by officers working on Operation Yewtree before being released during the early hours of Friday morning.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said the suspect was released on bail between 1am and 1.30am on Friday morning. The date when he must represent himself to officers is yet to be released by Scotland Yard. The police spokesman said the arrest falls under the strand of the investigation termed "Savile and others".

Starr had been publicly implicated in the Savile scandal over the past month but has strongly denied the accusations. Last month he branded Savile "despicable" and "disgusting", and urged police to interview him so he could clear his name.

His arrest follows that of Gary Glitter on Sunday by officers working on Operation Yewtree. The former pop star was questioned at a central London police station after being detained at his home in the capital. Glitter, whose real name is Paul Gadd, was photographed leaving Charing Cross police station later that day but Scotland Yard did not comment on his release.

PR guru Max Clifford said a lot of old stars were worried about being dragged into the investigation because they had appeared on Top Of The Pops or Jim'll Fix It and merely posed for photographs with girls and Savile.

He told Daybreak: "It is a situation which could easily turn into a witch hunt, a lot of big stars are frightened. Where is it going to end? I hope they (the police) concentrate on finding people like Jimmy Savile who were manipulating girls."

Savile, who died last year at the age of 84, is now believed to have been one of the UK's most prolific abusers, with about 300 possible victims. Scotland Yard is leading a national investigation into the television and radio star's activities.

Savile's estate, reportedly worth £4.3 million, has been frozen in response to the mounting allegations. NatWest Bank, which is acting as the Jim'll Fix It presenter's will executor and trustee, revealed the distribution of his assets had been put on hold in anticipation of legal action from his alleged victims.

Savile's relatives said they do not want a penny of his estate and called for the cash to be donated to an organisation to tackle sex crimes. The late presenter's nephew, Guy Marsden, 58, said his uncle was "a monster" and it was only right that the money should be given to a police-run anti-paedophile unit, and Savile's victims.