Savile ‘paid off sex attack victims’

in apparently appointing Savile to this role.”

MPs have led the condemnation of Savile in the face of the latest revelations.

Leeds MP Fabian Hamilton said Savile had gone from being seen as a saint to Satan by his constituents.

“A year ago I tabled an early day motion in the House of Commons, praising Savile’s work and the money he raised for charity,” he said. “Like so many thousands of people in my constituency and throughout the country, it just makes you feel really foolish for putting him up on that pedestal in the first place.”

Savile’s former employers, the BBC, have been sucked into the scandal after it emerged Newsnight abandoned an investigation into alleged abuse. The organisation has also come under fire for failing to take action over the Jim’ll Fix It presenter’s behaviour on its premises and is accused of having turned a blind eye to inappropriate behaviour by headline celebrities.

On Friday, BBC director-general George Entwistle offered a “profound and heartfelt apology” to the alleged victims of Savile’s sexual abuse as he announced that two inquiries would be launched.

One will look into whether there were any failings over the handling of the abandoned Newsnight piece, while a second independent inquiry will look into the “culture and practices of the BBC during the years Jimmy Savile worked here”.

Alec Shelbrooke, the Conservative MP for Elmet and Rothwell, yesterday said: “The BBC needs a full independent investigation and anyone found wanting no matter how famous, must be prosecuted.

“The same applies to the police, hospitals and charities. Why were investigations dropped or not carried out? People are responsible.”

Mr Shelbrooke also called for all references to Savile in public places to be dropped and his body moved to an anonymous grave.