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• The PR guru described the allegations dating from 1977 as 'damaging and totally untrue'
• Spent 12 hours in a cell and answering police questions
  
• Clifford was held as part of Operation Yewtree, the investigation into allegations of sex abuse surrounding disgraced former DJ Jimmy Savile
• Clifford was arrested in connection with alleged offences by 'Others' and not connected to Savile
  
• He said the accusations were 'very distressing for myself, my wife, my family and loved ones'

By Anna Edwards

PUBLISHED: 04:56 EST, 7 December 2012 | UPDATED: 07:19 EST, 7 December 2012

Max Clifford has today vowed to clear his name following his arrest on suspicion of sexual offences by police investigating the Jimmy Savile abuse scandal.

The PR guru told the press outside his Surrey home that the accusations are 'absolutely without foundation' and said he spent 12 hours in a cell and being questioned.

The noted publicist spent most of yesterday in a central London police station as officers searched his £3million mansion in Surrey and his London office.

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The 69-year-old said that he would be trying to make life 'as normal as I possibly can' and said he was still intent on speaking at different charitable events.

He said: 'It's a horrible experience but you have to face up to these things.

'They (the allegations) are totally without foundation and totally untrue.

'I was there for about 12 hours hours sitting in cells, asked questions for hours and hours, so I wasn't exactly a bundle of joy.

'But I came out and faced the cameras and spoke to everybody (the press) because I've got absolutely nothing to hide.

'The accusations have been made, the police have to look at it, that's what they have to do.

'I have to answer their questions and hopefully show clearly and conclusively to them and everybody else that there's absolutely no truth in any of this.'

The publicist said that one allegations dates back to 1977, and another to a few years afterwards.

Leaving Belgravia police station in central London last night, he said: 'These allegations are damaging and totally untrue. On a personal level they are very distressing for myself, my wife, my family and loved ones.

'Anyone who really knew me all those years ago and those who have known me since will have no doubt that I would never act in the way that I have today been accused. I have nothing more to add.'

VIDEO: Max Clifford says he has nothing to hide on SkyNews

VIDEO: Clifford denies allegations after 12 hours in police custody

Asked when the allegations dated from, he replied: '1977, 35 years.’

He later confirmed there were two allegations, although it is not known whether they relate to two different people.

Sources close to Clifford said he was confident he had nothing to worry about.

He is the fifth suspect to be arrested – and sixth person to be questioned – in connection with Operation Yewtree, the police inquiry set up after late Top Of The Pops presenter Savile was exposed as a serial abuser.

There are three strands to the Yewtree operation – two involving Savile, and a third termed ‘Others’. Clifford falls into this third category, meaning he was not being questioned about anything connected to Savile.

He was arrested in a low-key operation at 7.40am, when two unmarked police cars and two white transit vans arrived at his three-storey home on an exclusive gated estate in the Surrey stockbroker belt.

Later, officers could be seen putting black bags believed to contain items from his house into the back of the vans, while flashes at the large windows suggested officers were taking photographs inside.

A neighbour who saw the cars arrive said: ‘The arrest has come as a massive shock, as he is well respected in the community. The allegations are totally out of character.’

Clifford has been a vocal commentator on the Savile scandal, and last month said a lot of old stars were worried about being dragged into the investigation because they had appeared on Top Of The Pops or Jim’ll Fix It and had merely posed for photographs with girls and Savile.

‘It is a situation which could easily turn into a witch-hunt; a lot of big stars are frightened,’ he told ITV’s Daybreak. ‘Where is it going to end? I hope they (the police) concentrate on finding people like Jimmy Savile who were manipulating girls.’

He claimed at least 15 big-name stars from the 1960s and 70s had contacted him because they had lived a hedonistic lifestyle where young girls threw themselves at them but they ‘never asked for anybody’s birth certificate’.

Clifford has been in the business of representing the rich and famous for 40 years, his website boasts, and he is considered to be almost as famous as those he represents.

Clifford’s first wife, Liz, died of cancer in 2003 and he remarried, to his former PA Jo Westwood, in 2010. There was no sign of her yesterday. Clifford has one daughter from his first marriage, Louise, 41.

He is the sixth suspect to be questioned. Singer Gary Glitter and comedian Freddie Starr have previously been arrested and bailed under Operation Yewtree in the strand classed ‘Savile and others’.

DJ Dave Lee Travis and a man in his 70s were arrested and bailed in November as part of the operation strand classed as ‘Others’.

A man in his 80s from Berkshire was interviewed under caution on suspicion of sexual offences not directly related to Savile.

All deny any wrongdoing.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: ‘Officers working on Operation Yewtree have this morning arrested a man in his 60s in connection with the investigation. The man from Surrey was arrested at 7.40am on suspicion of sexual offences and has been taken into a central London police station.

Mr Clifford is scheduled to host a black tie charity dinner in aid of a children's charity next week.

The £90-a-head do, called 'Max Clifford reveals the secrets of the rich and famous', is scheduled to take place at the luxurious five-star Pennyhill Park Hotel and Spa in Bagshot, Surrey, next Monday in aid of the Caudwell Children's Charity and the Help Numan Walk Appeal.

The self-styled PR guru has been in the business of representing the rich and famous for 40 years, his website boasts, and he is considered to be almost as famous as those he represents.

He was catapulted into the public eye in 1986, when he invented a story about one of his clients, Freddie Starr - who has also been arrested as part of Operation Yewtree - telling journalists that the comic had eaten a woman's hamster.

He then provided a response to the claims which created another story - garnering the comedian attention for his then upcoming tour - and later admitted it was a fabrication.

His former clients range from multimillionaires to reality television stars fresh out of their programmes.

Mr Clifford is the sixth suspect to be questioned after one man, in his 80s and from Berkshire, was interviewed under caution on suspicion of sexual offences.

The man in his 80s was treated as part of the investigation that does not directly relate to Savile’s offences.

He was interviewed under caution on suspicion of sexual offences for five hours by officers working on Operation Yewtree and police searched a Berkshire property on Saturday, November 24.

Six arrests had been made as part of national investigation Operation Yewtree, into alleged sexual offences by Savile and others.

Gary Glitter and comedian Freddie Starr were arrested and bailed under Operation Yewtree in the strand classed 'Savile and others'.

DJ Dave Lee Travis and a man in his 70s were arrested and bailed in November as part of the operation strand classed as 'others'.

All deny any wrongdoing.

Scotland Yard is leading the inquiry and has said officers are currently dealing with around 450 potential victims, the vast majority of whom claim they fell prey to Savile.

Last month the force said it was dealing with around 450 potential victims, the vast majority of whom claimed they had fallen prey to Savile.

Officers are looking at three strands within their inquiry: claims against Savile, those against Savile and others, and those against others.

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