THE Australian entertainer arrested on suspicion of alleged sexual offences has been named in the British press as Rolf Harris.

The 83-year-old legendary star has been under investigation by Scotland Yard since last November after a woman came forward and made historical sex abuse claims against him.

Harris, who has not been charged, reportedly strenuouosly denied the allegations but has declined to comment publicly. His management would also not return calls.

He was arrested last month and interviewed at length by police before later being bailed to appear before investigating officers again sometime in May, pending further inquiries.

Until yesterday, no mainstream press would name the star but that changed after British tabloid The Sun went to print.

Two weeks ago his wife, Welsh sculptress Alwen Hughes, and his brother/manager Bruce Harris also declined to comment.

Just days after Harris was last November appointed Officer of the Order of Australia - from the Queen's Birthday Honours list for services to performing and visual arts and to charities and to international relations through promotion of the Aussie culture police raided his home in the picturesque village of Bray in Berkshire about an hours drive west of London.

Five days later he attended the South London police station to be interviewed "under caution".

It was at this point he was told of the allegations against him and friends described him as being "shattered" at the news.

It was then not until March that he was again asked to appear at a police station where he was formally arrested and bailed, although no charges were laid.

That came just two days before his 83rd birthday. Outside his riverfront home on that day, a number of friends and wellwishers stopped by for a small gathering.

"He hasn't done anything wrong," one man said as he entered for a party.

It was not clear the Perth-born entertainer was home that day, with reports he had been living in a flat in London in recent weeks.

The claims against him surfaced during the police probe, dubbed Operation Yewtree, into British entertainer Jimmy Savile, who has since been described as one of the worst serial child abusers in British history with at least 400 known victims.

The claims against Harris were not linked to the Savile case, which was split into three categories of those involving Savile, those linked to Savile and "others" to which he fell into the latter category.

Unlike the cases of he 10 other men so far arrested by Yewtree detectives, including former pop star Gary Glitter and comedian Freddie Starr, police would not confirm the identity of Mr Harris nor the allegations against him.

Mr Harris, who painted a portrait of the Queen in 2005, is a bigger star in his adopted Britain than in Australia, his TV show, Rolf's Animal Clinic, still attracting more than a million viewers each week. A recent concert he performed since being made a suspect was a sell out.

Harris, a father of one, has been entertaining in song and painting for six decades since he arrived in London and wrote Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport, which became a hit in both the UK and Australia and attracted fans including Margaret Thatcher, who as prime minister cited the artist and his hit Two Little Boys as her favourite.

In 2006, Harris was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, in addition to previous honours including being appointed an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in 1968, an OBE in 1977 and became a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 1989. This, all in addition to honorary doctorates and other industry awards.

Originally published as Rolf denies sex offence claims