TV star is third accused of sexually assaulting girl in Savile's dressing room

Personality who cannot be named is alleged to have assaulted 14-year-old

Jimmy Savile, Gary Glitter and a third, unnamed celebrity are accused of molesting underage girls in Savile's BBC dressing room (Getty Images)

A well-known television personality has become the third man to be accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl in Jimmy Savile's BBC dressing room. The entertainer, who denies the allegation and cannot be named here for legal reasons, is accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl while Gary Glitter and Savile abused girls nearby.

The claims were made by Karin Ward, a former pupil at the Duncroft Approved School for Girls in Surrey, who waived her anonymity. Savile regularly visited the school and would take girls to London and abuse them after inviting them to join the audience on his shows, former pupils claim.

Ms Ward claims that she saw the singer Gary Glitter have sex with a girl in Savile's dressing room, while the Jim'll Fix It star assaulted another 14-year-old girl. She then claimed that another celebrity repeatedly tried to grope her.

She claims: "I rebuffed him and he humiliated me in front of everyone in the dressing room by saying something really unkind about my lack of breasts, which to a 14-year-old girl was just awful. I was appalled and really, really upset."

After the documentary, which was broadcast on ITV on Wednesday night and attracted almost two million viewers, Mark Williams-Thomas, the criminologist who exposed the claims said he had been "overwhelmed" by the number of women who had contacted him with fresh allegations. He called on them to make an official report to the police.

Last night, Scotland Yard said it would take the national lead in assessing the allegations working closely with the BBC.

The corporation also said any employees who had knowledge of Savile's activities should come forward, while MP Anne Main has written to Lord Justice Leveson asking him to investigate how the BBC handled the allegations as part of his inquiry into press standards.

The Metropolitan Police said the assessment of claims will be led by Detective Superintendent David Gray from the force's Child Abuse Investigation Command.

Northamptonshire Police said it had been contacted by two members of the public while Surrey Police confirmed it had referred a historic rape allegation against the Jim'll Fix It star to Scotland Yard. Jersey and Sussex Police said they had both received complaints.

A former tabloid editor said he had known of allegations that Savile abused underage girls for 45 years but libel laws made celebrities "untouchable".

Brian Hitchen, editor of the Daily Star from 1987 to 1995 and the Sunday Express until 1996, said he had been told that Savile was removed from a cruise liner in Gibraltar following complaints from the parents of a 14-year-old girl.

Savile was confronted by the ship's captain but denied he had behaved inappropriately, Mr Hitchen claimed.