The pensioner from Berkshire, west of London, is one of 11 people arrested so far under Operation Yewtree, which is investigating people linked to Savile.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said the man was bailed to a date in May, pending further inquiries.

The spokesman said the man, who has not been named, was interviewed under caution on November 29 last year, five days after a search warrant was executed at an address in Berkshire.

No mainstream media have named the interviewed man, either when he was questioned previously or now.

A friend of the man's family last year expressed shock at the raging online rumour mill which had built on the internet.

The family friend, who declined to be named, asked then if the entertainer could have committed such offences, replied: ‘‘Absolutely not ... The whole thing is crazy.’’

A close family member, who lives in Sydney, then declined to make any comment.

Savile was a hugely popular but eccentric figure, famed for his shock of white hair, tracksuits and chunky gold jewellery, but since his death his reputation has been destroyed by revelations that he abused hundreds of children and women.

British police said earlier this year in a report into his activities that Savile "groomed the nation" over six decades, hiding behind his fame to assault girls, boys and adult women on BBC premises and in schools and hospitals.

The publicly-funded BBC made Savile one of its biggest stars in the 1970s and 1980s as presenter of BBC TV's Top of the Pops chart show and children's program Jim'll Fix It.