Highland village severs ties to Jimmy Savile

Published on 11/10/2012 15:45

The community in Lochaber, adopted Highland home of Sir Jimmy Savile, has taken steps to sever links with the late star, in the wake of the sexual abuse claims made against him.

A hotel in Fort William has removed a plaque honouring Savile, and a marketing group have withdrawn an online video after it was the target of internet trolls, as allegations continue to mount against the broadcaster, who died in October 2011. Police are looking at 120 lines of inquiry, and investigating claims that the former Top of the Pops presenter abused as many as 30 girls, aged as young as 13.

The comedy video featured an interview with Savile, as well as sports personalities including stunt biker Danny MacAskill dressed up in tracksuits impersonating him, and had been hailed as a marketing coup for the area after going viral and receiving over 100,000 hits, prior to the scandal surrounding Savile. It was removed by the Outdoor Capital of the UK marketing group after becoming a target for abusive comments on YouTube over the past week, including one that referred to missing Welsh school girl April Jones.

The hotel has removed the sign on the door of its Jimmy Savile Suite, which had been named in his honour as it was the DJ’s room of choice when visiting, and are no longer referring to it by that name. A spokeswoman said: “I think the removal speaks for itself so we won’t be making any comment.”

Savile had been honorary chieftain of the Lochaber Highland Games for more than 30 years, and the title was etched on his gravestone, which his family had removed on Tuesday “out of respect to public opinion”. The secretary of the Games, Allan Lindsay, said: “We’re not intending to do anything about our association with him.”