Officers investigating the Jimmy Savile scandal today arrested former pop star Gary Glitter.

He was held at 7.15am at an address in central London and taken to a police station in the capital.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "Officers working on Operation Yewtree have today arrested a man in his 60s in connection with the investigation.

"The man, from London, was arrested at approximately 7.15am on suspicion of sexual offences, and has been taken into custody at a London police station.

"The individual falls under the strand of the investigation we have termed 'Savile and others'.

Glitter, whose real name is Paul Gadd, was jailed for four months in the UK in 1999 for downloading child porn and later jailed for child sex offences in Vietnam.

Scotland Yard did not say what led to his arrest, and Glitter was filmed leaving his home this morning, wearing a hat and dark coat and gloves, and being driven away.

Meanwhile the chairman of the BBC Trust, Lord Patten, has said he is dedicated to finding out the truth about the scandal that has engulfed the corporation, vowing there would be "no covering our backs".

Lord Patten said the BBC's reputation is on the line and that it has risked squandering the public's trust.

He said the BBC would not hide behind smokescreens, but "must tell the truth and face up to the truth about itself, however terrible".

The BBC chairman said the two independent inquiries that have been set up - one into the Newsnight report, the other into the BBC's culture and practices in the years Savile worked there - must get to the truth of what happened.

He added: "Now my immediate priority is to get to the bottom of the Savile scandal and to make any and every change necessary in the BBC to learn the lessons from our independent investigations".

Yesterday Savile's closest relatives broke their silence to say their "own despair and sadness does not compare to that felt by the victims" who were abused.

In a statement released by Savile's nephew, Roger Foster, the family said: "How could the person we thought we knew and loved do such a thing?

"Why would a man who raised so much money for charity, who gave so much of his own time and energy for others, risk it all doing indecent criminal acts? How could anyone live their life doing the 'most good and most evil' at the same time?"

He said the family could understand the victims' "reluctance to say anything earlier" and the family could "appreciate the courage it has taken to speak out now".

Following speculation that other celebrities from Savile's era could be accused of sexual offences, PR guru Max Clifford claimed dozens of big name stars from the 1960s and 70s have contacted him because they are "frightened" they will become implicated in the widening child abuse scandal.

He said the stars were worried because at their peak they had lived a hedonistic lifestyle where young girls threw themselves at them but they "never asked for anybody's birth certificate".

Savile, who died last year at the age of 84, has been described as one of the most prolific sex offenders in recent UK history.

Scotland Yard detectives are currently dealing with about 300 alleged victims and are following more than 400 lines of inquiry.