Cliff Richard house raid: BBC 'acted properly'

The BBC would not have run a story about a police search at Sir Cliff Richard's home if a senior officer had explained to management that doing so could compromise the investigation, the corporation's director general has said.

Tony Hall was speaking at a Home Affairs Select Committee hearing, and defended the BBC's right to act on details about the raid leaked by an anonymous source.

The corporation had been criticised by police after it sent cameras to the pop star's Berkshire home on 14 August, as officers arrived to investigate a sexual offence allegation.

Committee chairman Keith Vaz accepted Mr Hall's comments and said that the corporation had acted "perfectly properly" in the way it reported the story.