Nephew's anger over Sir Jimmy Savile sex abuse claims

Exposure: The Other Side Of Jimmy Savile is due to be aired on ITV1 on Wednesday.

A relative of Sir Jimmy Savile has been left "disgusted" that allegations his late uncle sexually abused schoolgirls have been made.

Roger Foster, from East Yorkshire, spoke out ahead of a documentary to be shown on Wednesday.

The ITV programme details claims of abuse against Sir Jimmy as far back as the 1970s, including at BBC TV Centre.

However the BBC, which has investigated such allegations, said "no such evidence has been found".

Mr Foster, from Goole, said he was concerned the allegations could damage the reputation of charities Sir Jimmy raised funds for.

'Don't understand motives'

"The guy hasn't been dead for a year yet and they're bringing these stories out," he said.

"It could affect his legacy, his charity work, everything. I'm very sad and disgusted."

Sir Jimmy died in October last year at his home in Leeds, aged 84.

The DJ, TV presenter and charity fundraiser was one of the most famous names on British TV and radio in the 1960s, 70s and 80s.

His family programme, Jim'll Fix It, drew in huge audiences and the programme received 20,000 letters a week at the height of its popularity.

Mr Foster said: "I just don't understand the motives behind this.

"I just think it's very, very sad you can say these things after someone's died and the law says you can't defend yourself when you're dead."

Exposure: The Other Side Of Jimmy Savile is due to be aired on ITV1 at 22:30 BST on Wednesday.

On the programme, presented by former detective Mark Williams-Thomas, features several women who allege they were assaulted by Sir Jimmy.

One woman alleges she was raped by him, with another describing how she was asked to perform a sex act on him.

ITV said one of the woman who spoke out explained why she was too frightened to speak out whilst Sir Jimmy was alive.

'Absence of evidence'

Another woman appears on the programme to describe how, as a 14-year-old in 1974, she met Sir Jimmy at a school in Surrey and was assaulted in his caravan, while it was parked in the school grounds.

The BBC has responded to reports following reports that the behaviour by Sir Jimmy was an "open secret" at the corporation.

In a statement, the corporation said: "The BBC has conducted extensive searches of its files to establish whether there is any record of misconduct or allegations of misconduct by Sir Jimmy Savile during his time at the BBC. No such evidence has been found."

It added that "it is simply not possible for the corporation to take any further action" following the "absence of evidence of any kind".

The editor for Newsnight, Peter Rippon explained why an investigation by the BBC2 programme was never broadcast.

"It is absolutely untrue that the Newsnight investigation was dropped for anything other than editorial reasons," he said.

"We have been very clear from the start that the piece was not broadcast because the story we were pursuing could not be substantiated."