BBC slammed by police over Cliff

South Yorkshire Police has complained to the BBC and accused it of breaching its own editorial guidelines after the broadcaster found out about a search the force was planning to carry out at the home of pop star Cliff Richard.

The singer’s Berkshire penthouse was searched for five hours on Thursday by officers from South Yorkshire and Thames Valley Police as part of an investigation into an alleged sexual assault on a boy under the age of 16 at a religious event in 1985.

South Yorkshire Police said it was “disappointing” that the BBC was slow to acknowledge that the force was not the source of the “leak”.