The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) will investigate a force over its handling of allegations against Jimmy Savile, it has been announced.
North Yorkshire Police said on Thursday that it has referred itself to the watchdog over the way in which it recorded and responded to reports it received against the disgraced former TV presenter and a friend of his named Peter Jaconelli.
"Such is the nature of the evidence [gathered by the force] that, if he were alive today, Peter Jaconelli would have been interviewed under caution and a file of evidence would have been submitted for consideration by the Crown Prosecution Service," a police spokesman said.
The chief constable for North Yorkshire police, Dave Jones, said: "There has been, quite rightly, significant public interest in how the police service nationally responded to reports relating to alleged offending by both Savile and his known associates."
He added: "In order to determine whether North Yorkshire police responded appropriately to information we may have received, I instructed that an immediate review of all our systems be completed to ascertain if there was any recorded information in relation to Savile, Jaconelli and their known associates and friends, in respect of any reported offending."
"It is imperative that the public, especially victims, have confidence in the police, and that we are trusted to record and investigate all allegations of crime that we receive."
The allegations against the two men, both of whom have since died, were made more than 10 years ago, the force said.
The referral, which follows an internal inquiry conducted by the force, also relates to whether any information it held on record about Savile or his known associates was properly and comprehensively disclosed to Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) when it, and other police forces in England and Wales, were asked to do so by HMIC in December 2012 and again by the IPCC in May last year.
