VETERAN BBC broadcaster Stuart Hall has been charged with rape and 14 counts of indecent assault for a string of alleged historic sex attacks, Lancashire Police said tonight.

Hall, of Prestbury Road, Wilmslow, Cheshire, was arrested this morning after he attended an appointment at a police station.

The 83-year-old is charged with one count of rape allegedly committed in 1976 against a 22-year-old woman and 14 offences of indecent assault against 10 girls aged between nine and 16 which allegedly took place between 1967 and 1986.

He has been bailed to appear before Preston Magistrates’ Court on February 7.

Mr Hall is best known for his sports reporting on BBC Radio 5 live - as well as his work on the 1970s show It’s A Knockout.

He has been a familiar face and voice in British broadcasting for half a century and became an OBE in the 2012 New Year Honours for services to broadcasting and charity.