Prime Minister David Cameron has called for allegations of sexual abuse against former DJ Sir Jimmy Savile to be fully investigated.

Mr Cameron said that the claims from a number of women which have emerged over recent weeks that they were abused by Savile as teenagers were "truly shocking".

And he said that the allegations should be looked into by the BBC - which employed Savile at the time - and, if necessary, by the police.

Mr Cameron told BBC1's Andrew Marr Show: "I think it is pretty shocking, the allegations that we are reading. They need to be properly looked at, properly investigated.

"It seems to me it is very important that the organisation, the BBC, does that itself.

"But also, if there are questions that should be pursued by the police and other organisations, everyone has to ask themselves the question `Is there new evidence that needs to be looked at? Are there new things as an organisation we should look at and examine?'

"But from what I have read - and that is just as a consumer of the media - truly shocking things have been said."

The Press Association, photo by multimediaimpre