Max Clifford, one of the best known publicists in Britain, has been arrested by officers investigating sexual abuse claims against Jimmy Savile and others.

The Metropolitan police said on Thursday morning that officers working on Operation Yewtree arrested “a man in his sixties” at his Surrey home at 7.04am “on suspicion of sexual offences”.

Clifford, 69, is the arrestee. He has been taken to a central London police station for questioning.

He is the fifth person to be arrested since the investigation was launched following revelations that Savile had abused underage girls both at the BBC and several hospitals including Stoke Mandeville and Leeds General Infirmary.

Clifford’s lawyer, Charlotte Harris, said: “Max Clifford is being interviewed by police. He will assist police as best he can with their inquiries. When we are in a position to provide further information we will.”

Scotland Yard refused to comment on the identity of the arrestee, but in a statement said: “The individual falls under the strand of the investigation we have termed ‘others’.”

The singer Gary Glitter, comedian Freddie Starr and DJ Dave Lee Travis are three of those previously arrested and bailed in the Met probe. The former BBC producer Wilfred De’Ath was also arrested and bailed.

They were classified as falling under the “others” strand of the investigation. A man in his 80s was interviewed under caution and released on 29 November.

There are three strands to Operation Yewtree: “Savile”, “Savile and others” and “others”.

“Savile and others” relates to alleged offences in which the former Jim’ll Fix It host was suspected of being involved; “others” relates to allegations being investigated by Operation Yewtree, but do not involve Savile.

Clifford, who built his PR business Max Clifford Associates out of celebrity-kiss-and-tell deals with the tabloids, has represented some of the country’s best known stars including Simon Cowell, cyclist Chris Hoy and Jade Goody.

When the Savile revelations first emerged, Clifford said dozens of big-name stars from the 1960s and 1970s had contacted him because they were “frightened to death” they were going to be implicated.

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/dec/06/max-clifford-arrested