Police restricted access to intelligence that could have exposed Jimmy Savile's sex crimes because it involved celebrity, blackmail and paedophilia, a report has revealed.
A letter received by Scotland Yard in 1998 claiming the DJ was a paedophile was classed as "sensitive", meaning other investigators could not find it, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) found.
Savile changed his phone number because he was being blackmailed by a rent boy
"The 1998 MPS anonymous letter was marked as 'sensitive' because of Savile's celebrity status and because there were allegations of blackmail and paedophilia. This categorisation meant that the intelligence was not readily available to be searched by later investigating officers," the inspectors said.
Scotland Yard sent the letter to West Yorkshire Police, the area where Savile lived, but other investigators could not access the information until 2011.
The letter said: "The image that Jimmy Savile has tried to portray over the years is someone who is deeply concerned with his fellow man; however, the thrust of this is entirely the opposite. His fundraising activities are not out of altruistic motives, but purely for selfish advancement and an easy living.
"He has slimed his way in wherever possible. He has tried to hide his homosexuality which in any event is an open secret with those who know; but did you know that he is also a deeply committed paedophile and involved in buggery with young children."
Savile changed his phone number in Leeds because a rent boy was trying to blackmail him, the letter claims.
"What can not be acceptable and must be stopped is Jimmy Savile's paedophilia. I know he has pornography, but do not know which of his houses it is in. Regularly, he runs for the Life charity in Roundhay Park in Leeds, he would say 'Now I've had a run, I feel like some bum'. And would then later in the evening go where the rent boys hang out," it said.
"Please, do not let him get away with this perversion and that he feels immune because of the people he mixes with. There are too many of his perverted type around. Don't let him continue to think he is untouchable, or that his secret is too well hidden.
"When Jimmy Savile fails, and sooner or later he will, a lot of well-known personalities and past politicians are going to fall with him.
"I have done my duty, my conscience is clear, you have the power, time, and resources at Scotland Yard to wheedle him out, and expose him for what he really is.
"If you think this is a hoax, or a crank letter, think again. It is not I who suffer if you do nothing, but the children."
In 2007, Surrey police investigated three complaints made against Savile, later tied in with an allegation made to officers in Sussex.
HMIC found that had Surrey known about the 1998 letter and a complaint against Savile received by Scotland Yard in 2003, the investigation would have been pursued more vigorously.
It said: "We are confident that if the Surrey investigating officers had been made aware of this material, the investigation would have been scaled up accordingly."
The HMIC report also found that Savile's celebrity status impeded investigations.
"It is absolutely clear to us as a result of this review that one of the reasons why allegations were not made at the time, or investigations were not conducted as they might have been, centres on Savile's status," it said.
"He was a well-known national celebrity, praised for his substantial fundraising efforts, and a household name to many. That fact alone allowed him access to institutions in a way that those without celebrity status would have been denied.
"We wonder, as a result, whether those responsible for investigating potential criminal offences had a different approach to dealing with allegations against those in the public eye.
"There might well have been the thought that, in order to charge a man such as Savile, there had to be that extra piece of evidence; that piece of evidence that had to be conclusive; that second or third witness to the crime - just to be sure that bringing proceedings against him was justified."
It said that officers in Sussex had Savile's status in mind when they carried out interviews, and that the victim was told it would be difficult for a prosecution to take place against "a big celebrity".
A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said: "The 1998 letter was uncorroborated and anonymous information that related to issues in Leeds and was properly recorded and disseminated by the MPS to West Yorkshire Police for their further consideration.
"It was only uploaded on to the Police National Database (PND) in 2011 as the Impact Nominal Index (INI) was not a secure enough system for sensitive or restricted information such as this.
"The 2003 investigation was properly recorded, investigated and stored with a restricted classification, as with all sensitive material. It was also not uploaded on the INI due to the lack of a confidential status or necessary layers of security."
The INI is a database that allows police to discover whether other forces have information about specific individuals or if they are under investigation.