AN OLD friend of Jimmy Savile who worked with him to raise funds for Stoke Mandeville Hospital in the 1970s said today she was saddened by allegations of sexual abuse against him but never saw him do anything “inappropriate”.

Sylvia Nicol told Daybreak: “I am very sad, I don’t like it, it takes away 40 years of very happy, very good memories.

“Knowledge of all the good Jimmy did, because from the time he came to Stoke Mandeville I only saw him do good.”

But Caroline Moore has claimed she was assaulted by Savile at the age of 13 while being treated for spinal injuries at the Buckinghamshire hospital in 1971.

Nurses at the hospital are also understood to have dreaded Savile’s visits because of his behaviour and would tell children to stay in bed and pretend to be asleep when he came round.

Mrs Moore, from Clarkston in East Renfrewshire, told BBC Radio Scotland: “I was outside a ward or a gym and he came out and just rammed his tongue down my throat.

“I told my family at the time. They didn’t take it seriously because he was such a high-profile character.”

Police believe Savile could have abused as many as 25 victims over a period of 40 years, and have so far formally recorded a number of criminal allegations against him including rape and indecent assault.

Greater Manchester, Lancashire, North Yorkshire and Tayside are the latest forces to say allegations have been made.

A woman told Greater Manchester Police of a sexual relationship she had with Savile from the age of 15, while a second said she was groped by him in Salford when she was under 16.