Marita Moloney
Live reporter

We're going to pause our live coverage now after several fast-paced developments in this BBC presenter allegations story.

As our legal correspondent said earlier, "an extraordinary situation" emerged when a lawyer representing the young person at the heart of these allegations disputed their mother’s account of events in a letter to the BBC. The Sun says it has seen evidence to back the mother's claims.

We know the police are involved, we know a well-known presenter has been suspended and we know there's claim and counter-claim, but there's just as many questions still unanswered.

We'll be back with more updates tomorrow, and until then, you can read our news story on what has happened so far, as well as a timeline of events.

Today's page was edited by Sam Hancock, Rob Corp and myself, and written by Alex Kleiderman, Emily Atkinson, Ece Goksedef, George Wright, Thomas Mackintosh and Anna Boyd. Thanks for joining us.

There have been plenty of developments in this BBC presenter allegations story today. Here's a reminder of what happened:

• In a letter to the BBC, a lawyer representing the young person at the centre of these claims says "the allegations reported in the Sun newspaper are rubbish" and "nothing inappropriate" took place
• The lawyer says the young person sent the Sun a denial on Friday, but it proceeded to publish "their inappropriate article"
• In response, the Sun says it has seen evidence to back the mother's claims, and later published a story reporting that the young person's family "stand by" their account

• On Friday, the Sun reported allegations that a presenter paid for explicit photos over the course of three years, starting when the young person was 17
• Their mother told the tabloid her child - now 20 years old - had used the money to fund a crack cocaine habit
• BBC News does not know the young person and has not spoken to them directly. It has also not seen any of the Sun's evidence or the dossier it said was handed to the BBC by the family over the weekend
• The male presenter has been suspended - and the BBC said it was working to "establish the facts"
• The Met Police is working to establish whether there is evidence of a criminal offence but say there is "no investigation at this time"

The family of the young person at the centre of allegations against a BBC presenter have accused the organisation of lying.

The step-father said “we put the allegations to them for an hour”.

This appears to contradict a previous statement in Monday’s newspaper which stated: “The family say no one from the corporation rang them for a proper interview after the initial complaint.”

In the latest article, it is claimed the stepfather had gone to the police about the matter.

“I told the BBC I had gone to the police in desperation but they couldn’t do anything as they said it wasn’t illegal. They knew all of this," he is quoted as saying.

The BBC’s culture editor Katie Razzall and home and legal correspondent Dominic Casciani explain what we know, and what we still don’t know in a new Newscast episode this evening.

They explore the legal difficulties in covering this story, including why the BBC presenter can’t be named.

You can listen to the episode here, as well as wherever you get your podcasts.

The BBC is due to publish its annual report tomorrow, which was in the diary before these allegations became public.

These reports are an assessment of the BBC’s performance over the last 12 months.

The director general traditionally hosts a press conference, which is likely to be dominated by this story this year.

Davie said in an email to staff on Sunday that the corporation took the claims "incredibly seriously".

The BBC still has many questions to answer after lawyers representing the young person at the centre of the allegations disputed the mother’s account.

David Sillito, the BBC's Media and Arts Correspondent, explains what we know - and what we don't know - so far.

To get a sense of how this situation has unfolded, here's an updated timeline of the key events so far:

• Friday 19 May: The young person's family complain to the BBC about one of its presenters, according to the Sun newspaper
• Thursday 6 July: Allegations "of a different nature" are put to the BBC, according to director general Tim Davie
• Friday 7 July: The Sun publishes claims that a BBC presenter paid a young person £35,000 for sexually explicit photos
• Saturday 8 July: The Sun on Sunday publishes more details of the presenter's alleged actions
• Sunday 9 July: The BBC confirms a presenter has been suspended and the corporation is in touch with police - with the Met confirming an "initial contact" has been received
• The Sun publishes more revelations claiming the presenter made "panicked calls" to the young person, and reports that the family are upset with the BBC's response to the allegations
• Monday 10 July: Representatives from the BBC meet detectives from the Met's Specialist Crime Command. The force says it is "assessing" information from the BBC, but there is "no investigation at this time"
• A lawyer representing the young person sends a letter to the BBC in which they say the claims made by the mother are "rubbish" and "nothing inappropriate" took place
• The Sun issues a response, saying it has seen evidence to back the mother's claims. It later publishes a new story where it reports the young person's family "stand by" their account

The Sun published a new story this evening after BBC News disclosed excerpts from the young person's legal letter.

In a new interview, the mother and step-father who have made the claims said they "stand by" their allegations.

We can now bring you some more details from the letter sent to the BBC earlier by a lawyer representing the young person at the centre of these allegations.

The lawyer says that press reporting amounted to an invasion of privacy, and criticises both the Sun and the BBC for not contacting their client.

"Nobody from the Sun newspaper appears to have made any attempt to contact our client prior to the publication of the allegations on Friday 6 July,” the lawyer writes.

The lawyer also claims in the letter that the mother and the young person are estranged.

Just a short while ago, we shared a letter from a lawyer representing the young person at the centre of the BBC presenter allegations, which disputed claims made by their mother to the Sun newspaper.

Developments are moving at pace now - so here's a recap of the key events:

• On Friday, the Sun alleged that a presenter paid for explicit photos over the course of three years, starting when the young person was 17
• Their mother told the tabloid her child - now 20 years old - had used the money to fund a crack cocaine habit
• The male presenter has been suspended - and the BBC said it was working to "establish the facts"
• The Met Police is working to establish whether there is evidence of a criminal offence but say there is "no investigation at this time"
• In a letter to the BBC, shared this evening, the young person's lawyer said "the allegations reported in the Sun newspaper are rubbish" and "nothing inappropriate" took place
• The lawyer says the young person sent the Sun a denial on Friday, but it proceeded to publish "their inappropriate article"
• In response, the Sun says it has seen evidence to back the mother's claims

Image source, PA Media

With stories like this one, BBC News journalists treat the BBC in the same way as any other organisation the news service reports on.

And like with any other organisation, BBC News has to ask BBC management or BBC services for responses and contact the BBC press office for official statements.

Occasionally BBC journalists approach senior managers for unplanned interviews - known as "doorsteps" in the news business.

They also sometimes get offered interviews with management - like this one with BBC director general Tim Davie over the Gary Lineker row.

And when this happens, they know they'll be scrutinised within and outside the BBC over how well they hold their boss to account.

Helena Wilkinson

This is one of many developments in this unfolding crisis for the BBC.

It's a story that has dominated the headlines over the weekend and today.

A letter has been sent to the BBC from the lawyer representing the young person at the centre of BBC presenter allegations and it disputes their mother's account of what happened, and as the lawyer claims in this letter, throws doubt on some of the story.

The Sun newspaper came back with a statement saying they have "seen evidence" that supports the parents' concerns about this young person.

BBC News does not know the young person and has not spoken to them directly.

BBC News has also not seen any of the Sun's evidence or the dossier it said was handed to the BBC by the family over the weekend.

Earlier today the Met Police and representatives from the BBC met virtually and discussed issues around these allegations.

The Met put out a statement to say there wasn't going to be an investigation at this stage. The BBC said over the weekend it was a complex, fast moving case.

Dominic Casciani
Legal correspondent

I think we've got quite an extraordinary situation here - we've got reputations, careers, and futures at stake.

None of the principals have spoken out openly about what has happened and if you analyse that from a newsroom point of view, this is a pretty unsatisfactory position to be in because this is a 72-hour news cycle but nobody is really clearer about where the truth lies.

If you analyse this from a legal perspective, this is really coming down to some very difficult questions about privacy.

The firm that the young person has instructed to contact the BBC is not a modest, high street firm, they are a multinational practice so they know what they're doing.

They have repeatedly emphasised that their client alleges this is a breach of their privacy.

That's quite a strong allegation to make. Yet because the individual hasn't been named it's not necessarily going to end up in the courts.

I think when you look at this - reporting claim and counter-claim - we end up in a situation where the public wants us to tell them what this really amounts to in legal terms - is this going to amount to a court case?

We don't know, and no-one seems to be sure at the moment.

Katie Razzall
Culture and media editor

It is important to say, despite our efforts, BBC News does not know the identity of the young person involved in these allegations and has not spoken to them.

We've also not seen any of the Sun's body of evidence or the dossier of evidence the Sun reported was handed to the BBC by the family over the weekend.

But in the last few minutes, we have received a statement from the Sun newspaper.

They say: "We have reported a story about two very concerned parents who made a complaint to the BBC about the behaviour of a presenter and the welfare of their child.

"Their complaint was not acted upon by the BBC. We have seen evidence that supports their concerns. It’s now for the BBC to properly investigate."

Clearly, this has become one person's word against another. It's a really difficult and complicated situation.

We know the police are involved, we know a well-known presenter has been suspended and we know there's claim and counter-claim, and I think this letter adds another element.

Potentially some doubt on story after lawyer letterpublished at 18:12 British Summer Time 10 July 2023

18:12 BST 10 July 2023

Katie Razzall
Culture and media editor

We received this letter late this afternoon and it makes key claims that, if true, potentially throws some doubt on the story that was on the front pages throughout the weekend.

It's a letter from a lawyer who says he represents the young person at the centre of the allegations and he says the young person sent a denial to the Sun newspaper on Friday evening, before publication, by WhatsApp, to tell them the statement their mother made about them was "totally wrong and there was no truth in it".

Nonetheless the Sun newspaper proceeded to publish what the lawyer and the client called “their inappropriate article”.

The letter from the lawyer also says: “For the avoidance of doubt, nothing inappropriate or unlawful has taken place between our client and the BBC personality and the allegations reported in the Sun newspaper are 'rubbish'.”

We don't know the truth of this, we're reporting what it says in the letter.

We have just received a statement from the Sun newspaper, responding to a lawyer representing the young person, which disputes their mother's account of events

A spokesperson for the Sun said: "We have reported a story about two very concerned parents who made a complaint to the BBC about the behaviour of a presenter and the welfare of their child.

The letter from the young person's lawyer continues: “For the avoidance of doubt, nothing inappropriate or unlawful has taken place between our client and the BBC personality and the allegations reported in the Sun newspaper are 'rubbish'.”

BBC News does not know the identity of the young person and has not spoken directly to them.

BBC News has not seen any of the Sun’s evidence, or the dossier the paper reported was handed to the corporation by the family over the weekend.

The Sun has been approached for comment.

A lawyer representing the young person at the centre of the BBC presenter allegations has disputed their mother’s account of events.

In a letter to the BBC, the lawyer makes claims that throw doubt on the story that has dominated front pages through the weekend.

It says the young person sent a denial to the Sun on Friday evening via WhatsApp saying the statement their mother made to the newspaper was “totally wrong and there was no truth to it”.

Nonetheless, the lawyer said, the Sun newspaper proceeded to publish “their inappropriate article”.

Image source, Getty Images

It's been just over three days since reports emerged in the Sun newspaper that a young person was allegedly paid by a BBC presenter for sexually explicit photos.

Here's a look at today's main developments:

• The Metropolitan Police says it has met representatives of the BBC over the claims and its officers are working to establish whether there is evidence of a criminal offence
• But the force says there is "no investigation at this time"
• The BBC has said a complaint was made in May, and new claims of a "different nature" were brought to it on Thursday
• A male presenter was suspended by the BBC on Sunday and has not been named for legal reasons
• Alex Chalk, the UK's justice secretary, has urged the BBC to "get its house in order" and suggested a further review may be needed into the actions of the corporation
• Separately, the Met says it has received a report of malicious communication in relation to a social media post. It comes after BBC Radio 5 Live host Nicky Campbell reported an anonymous Twitter account over a post wrongly claiming he was the presenter concerned

The Met Police also gave a separate update earlier this afternoon - in relation to another development.

It comes after Nicky Campbell, of BBC Radio 5 Live, tweeted, external he had reported an anonymous Twitter account to the police over a post wrongly claiming he was the presenter concerned.

A statement from the Met says: "On Saturday, 8 July police received a report of malicious communication in relation to a post on social media.

"An investigation is under way and enquiries are ongoing. There have been no arrests."