Cliff Richard hits back at sex crime claim

Pop legend Cliff Richard has dismissed a sex crime claim involving a young boy in the 1980s as "completely false".

The singer hit out as police carried out a five-hour search of his Berkshire penthouse flat yesterday, saying he had seen allegations circulating online for months but had chosen not to “dignify” them with a response.

Cliff, 73, is not in the UK but pledged to co-operate with the inquiry, which concerns an alleged assault claimed to have taken place at an appearance by American evangelist Billy Graham in Sheffield in 1985.