Head of the BBC newsoom Mary Hockaday (pictured) has defended the way the corporation covered the search of the home of pop singer Cliff Richard.

South Yorkshire Police has revealed that it tipped off the BBC in advance of the raid in Sunningdale, Berkshire, after being contacted by a reporter some weeks ago.

It said in a statement: “The force was reluctant to cooperate but felt that to do otherwise would risk losing any potential evidence, so in the interests of the investigation it was agreed that the reporter would be notified of the date of the house search in return for delaying publication of any of the facts.”