Theresa May has warned that giving suspects anonymity will hamper police investigations after Sir Cliff Richard won a landmark High Court privacy battle against the BBC.

The Prime Minister said that publishing the name of a suspect "enables other potential victims to come forward" in some cases and therefore "strengthens the case against an individual".

Her comments come after the High Court ruled that the BBC had breached Sir Cliff's privacy by broadcasting a police search of his home and awarded the star more than £200,000 in damages.

Sir Cliff was never arrested following a child sex allegation made against him, and Mr Justice Mann said the BBC had infringed the star's privacy rights in a "serious and sensationalist way".

The BBC is now looking at appealing the case, with legal experts saying the decision is a further step toward a privacy law which will stop the media from naming suspects in all but exceptional cases.

But Sir Cliff said that he would "fight to the death" against what he described as the "abuse of the freedom of speech".

He said: "I’d rather ten guilty people get away with it than one innocent person suffer. There is no reason for that."

Mrs May was asked in Parliament to consider a new "Cliff's law" giving all suspects anonymity before they are charged.