Cliff Richard search sparks a ‘number of calls’ to police

Police have been contacted by "a number of people" with information following the widespread media coverage of a search of Cliff Richard’s home.

The singer’s Berkshire penthouse was scoured 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 young boy at a religious event in 1985.

Richard, who was away in Portugal when the search took place, firmly denied any wrongdoing and hit out at the fact BBC journalists were apparently tipped off about the plan.