Late Sir Jimmy Savile accused of grooming and sexually abusing under-age girls

Explosive ITV documentary includes interviews with alleged victims

The late presenter of Top of the Pops and Jim'll Fix It, Sir Jimmy Savile, has been accused of grooming and sexually abusing girls as young as 12.

An ITV documentary, Exposure: The Other Side of Jimmy Savile, features interviews with alleged victims of the TV star who died last year at the age of 84.

The BBC has come under fire from people who claim a 'blind eye' was turned to the presenter.

Esther Rantzen, who worked at the BBC during the 1970s when Savile was at the height of his fame, confirmed there were rumours about the star.

She said: 'We all blocked our ears to the gossip.

'Jim'll Fix It was for children. He was a sort of God-like figure. Everybody knew of the good that Jimmy did and what he did for children. And these children were powerless.'

The abuse is alleged to have taken place in a number of places, including schools and hospitals.

One woman named Fiona, who was 14 at the time, said she was invited to ride in Savile's car.

In her interview she says: 'I knew the moment he asked me to stay in the car with him, I knew what was expected of me. Because I was having this wonderful day out and I was expected to pay for it. And that's what I did.

'I now know it was wrong and I can still get very angry about it, but nobody believed me then, so I don't expect anybody to believe me now if I'm honest.'

The explosive documentary will be shown at 11pm on Wednesday.

ITV says it has taken into account the fact Sir Jimmy Savile was not alive to defend the claims.

The BBC released a statement over the weekend saying no evidence of allegations on its premises had been found.

It reads: 'The BBC has conducted extensive searches of its files to establish whether there is any record of misconduct or allegations of misconduct by Sir Jimmy Savile during his time at the BBC. No such evidence has been found.

'Whilst the BBC condemns any behaviour of the type alleged in the strongest terms, in the absence of evidence of any kind found at the BBC that corroborates the allegations that have been made it is simply not possible for the corporation to take any further action.'

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