Police have been contacted by "a number of people" with information following widespread media coverage of a search of Sir Cliff Richard's home.

The singer's Berkshire penthouse was scoured for five hours by officers from South Yorkshire and Thames Valley Police as part of an investigation into an alleged sexual assault on a young boy in 1985.

Sir Cliff, who was away in Portugal when the search took place, denied any wrongdoing and hit out that BBC journalists were apparently tipped off.

Head of newsgathering Jonathan Munro said the information did not come from South Yorkshire Police. Thames Valley Police said it had no contact with the media before the search.

The investigation is focused on an alleged assault claimed to have taken place on a boy under 16 at an appearance by American evangelist Billy Graham in Sheffield in 1985.

Conservative MP Nigel Evans, 56, referred to the case in reiterating his call for suspects in sex offence cases to get anonymity and said "questions have got to be answered" over Sir Cliff's claims the press had been notified about the search.

Mr Evans, who was cleared of a string of alleged sex offences earlier this year, said: "It appears the press knew what was happening before he did."