British police: up to 40 victims in TV star abuse probe

British police investigating child sex abuse claims against the late TV star Jimmy Savile said they were in contact with 40 potential victims. London's Metropolitan Police (MPS), which is handling the national flood of allegations about one of the top stars in British broadcasting from the 1960s to the 1980s, said they were now following 340 leads. A television programme last week contained accounts from women who claimed they were sexually assaulted by Savile when they were children, in some cases on BBC premises. The programme has spurred many more people into coming forward, in a case that has dominated the headlines in Britain. The MPS said they were working with 14 other police forces across the country where people have registered complaints. "The MPS have to date received 340 potential lines of enquiry since they took the national lead in relation to allegations concerning Jimmy Savile last week," it said in a statement. "We are in contact with 40 potential victims. We have officially recorded 12 allegations of sexual offences but expect this number to grow. "We continue to liaise with 14 forces. "We would once again praise the courage of, and thank everyone who has come forward to provide us with information to assist in understanding the scale of abuse perpetrated by Savile," it said. People who come forward will be given "the advice and support they need", the statement said. Savile, the long-running host of the BBC's "Top of the Pops" main music show, also raised tens of millions of pounds (dollars, euros) for charity, receiving British and papal knighthoods for his efforts. He died last October aged 84.