Ex-BBC host denies abuse offences after police arrest

Guardian News and Media/LondonFormer Top of the Pops and BBC Radio 1 presenter Dave Lee Travis has denied any wrongdoing following his arrest and bailing on suspicion of sexual offences on Thursday.Speaking outside his home near Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, yesterday, Travis issued a “complete denial” and added: “This is nothing to do with kids.”Travis was released on police bail late on Thursday after being arrested on suspicion of sexual offences.He was the fourth person to be held by London Metropolitan police detectives from Operation Yewtree, the investigation into sexual abuse by Jimmy Savile and others.Travis said he did not want his name associated with “bloody evil” child abuse. He said: “This is nothing to do with kids, all right? That’s the first thing. Because that to me is the most important thing in the world and I do not wish to have my name sullied around something that bloody evil, to be honest.“The second thing I want is to say, yes, there’s a complete denial there, but there’s nothing else I can tell you because otherwise I might be stepping on the police’s feet and I don’t want to do that because it might affect their investigations.” Travis’s statement came shortly after it was confirmed yesterday that he has been dropped from his Magic AM radio show with immediate effect. He had fronted a weekend radio show on the station in the north of England since 2006. Magic AM owner Bauer Media said the allegations relating to the DJ’s arrest pre-date his time as a freelance presenter with the station.Bauer Media said in a statement: “While we can make no judgment on the matters under investigation, we believe it would be inappropriate for him to broadcast until they are resolved. There will be no further comment or statements from Bauer Media.”The BBC responded swiftly to the arrest by pulling a Top of the Pops repeat from 1977, hosted by Travis, from its BBC4 schedule on Thursday night.Scotland Yard said Travis’s arrest fell under the strand of the Operation Yewtree investigation termed “others” - that is, not relating to Savile.Other former media personalities arrested under Operation Yewtree are former pop star Gary Glitter, whose real name is Paul Gadd, the comedian Freddie Starr, and the former BBC producer Wilfred De’Ath.Travis was a regular fixture on Radio 1 from its launch in 1967 until 1993, when he famously resigned from his weekend morning show on air saying he did not agree with changes at the station. He was a regular Top of the Pops presenter in the 1970s and 1980s, when the show was at its peak, and fronted various Radio 1 weekday and weekend shows.10 more BBC staff accused of sexual misconductAt least 10 more BBC employees have been accused of sexual misconduct over the past few days, it was revealed yesterday. The members of staff have come under investigation following fresh allegations lodged with the corporation. The names were forwarded to the BBC’s investigations unit and are in addition to earlier complaints made against 29 staff. A BBC spokeswoman said “numbers will fluctuate both up and down as new allegations are made and investigated” but it is understood that most of the complaints are still being looked into. A BBC insider yesterday revealed how Newsnight was operating without an investigations unit at the time of the programme that led to Lord McAlpine being wrongly accused of child abuse. Investigations producer Meirion Jones had left after an ITV documentary exposed Savile as a paedophile on October 3. Jones was investigating claims against Savile last December but his bosses dropped the report. It is understood he had not been replaced by the time the programme was broadcast.