Jimmy Savile: police investigate alleged rape and sex abuse 'on national scale' Jimmy Savile, whose £4,000 gravestone is to be taken down at the request of his family. Photograph: Murdo Macleod Police are pursuing 120 separate lines of inquiry involving alleged rape and sexual abuse by Jimmy Savile stretching over a period of four decades and "on a national scale," Scotland Yard has said. Two formal criminal allegations of rape and six of indecent assault have been recorded to date against the late DJ and TV presenter, who died last year, but police said they had received information relating to up to 25 potential victims, the majority of whom were girls aged between 13 and 16 when the alleged abuse took place. The earliest allegation dates from 1959, said Commander Peter Spindler, head of serious crime investigations at the Metropolitan police, which is co-ordinating the inquiry, but the reports "span four decades of abuse," the majority relating to incidents in the 1970s and 1980s. Five police forces have received allegations about the TV star, he said. Asked whether it was now possible to say definitively that Savile, who died in October 2011 at the age of 84, was a serial abuser of young women, Spindler said: "I think the facts speak for themselves around the number of women who have come forward and spoken about his behaviour [and] his predilection for teenage girls ... It's a pattern of behaviour that is being presented to us." His remarks give the clearest indication to date of the scale of abuse Savile is now thought to have committed, following a torrent of allegations against the star since it emerged 10 days ago that the BBC had dropped a Newsnight investigation into claims of abuse. The report, in which 10 women accused the TV star of abusing them, was shelved in December last year, shortly before the BBC broadcast a Christmas tribute to the late star. An ITV programme broadcast last week and based on much of the same material alleged that Savile had raped or sexually assaulted a number of children, some at Duncroft approved school, a boarding school in Staines for girls with behavioural problems, others at the BBC when they had come to watch filming of his TV programmes, and others in his cars or motor home. George Entwistle, director general of the BBC, apologised on Monday to the abused women and said the corporation would hold an internal inquiry into its own conduct, amid growing reports of a culture in which sexual harassment was commonplace, after the conclusion of the police inquiries. The operation, codenamed Yewtree, is expected to take around six weeks. Asked about other TV stars who have been accused of abuse, Spindler said: "We've had a range of different names reported to us, but the only allegations recorded are against Savile himself." The comedian Freddie Starr said on Tuesday that he would welcome the opportunity to speak to police over a claim by one alleged victim of Savile that she was also groped by Starr in a BBC dressing room when she was 14. He denies the accusation. The former head of Jersey's child abuse investigation unit said this week that he believed Savile was involved in abuse at the Haut de la Garenne children's home, the subject of a three-year investigation into sexual abuse. The DJ's name emerged during his investigations, Lenny Harper told the Guardian, and a number of former residents have now told solicitors that they were abused by Savile there during the 1970s. Asked whether he was aware of allegations of abuse at other institutions, Spindler said the Met was "in dialogue" with both the Leeds General Infirmary and Stoke Mandeville hospital, both of which had close associations with Savile, adding: "His pattern of behaviour does appear to be on a national scale." The DJ, who raised millions of pounds for charities during his lifetime, had his own rooms at Stoke Mandeville and at Broadmoor secure psychiatric hospital, and stayed at both institutions frequently. Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS trust said in a statement it "would of course co-operate fully if the appropriate authorities decide to investigate and call upon us for input" regarding Savile's conduct at Stoke Mandeville, adding: "We are unaware of any record or reports of inappropriate behaviour of this nature during Sir Jimmy Savile's work with the trust." Peter Liver, director of the NSPCC, said the charity had passed 24 reports of abuse to the Met, 17 of which related directly to Savile. The charity has called on other victims of abuse to come forward and seek counselling or support. Savile's family said on Tuesday that it had ordered his £4,000 gravestone in Scarborough to be removed, "out of respect for public opinion." The monument was erected only last month, but relatives said they were aware of "the impact that the stone remaining there could have on the dignity and sanctity of the cemetery." A memorial plaque to Savile in Scarborough has been vandalised, while a footpath named after him has also had its sign removed. Meanwhile the BBC programme Panorama is preparing an investigation into Savile, the Guardian has learned, led by the same producer who prepared the original Newsnight report. It is understood that ITV is also planning a follow-up Exposure programme on Savile by Mark Williams-Thomas, the child protection expert who led last week's investigation.