Labour leader Ed Miliband does not think BBC Director-General George Entwistle needs to resign over the Jimmy Savile scandal, but says the corporation has not handled it "as well as it could have done" and favours an inquiry conducted outside the BBC.

"What I would like to see happen is an independent enquiry which is commissioned outside the BBC," said Miliband.

He added: "Commissioned by government, covering not just the BBC but all of the institutions that frankly allowed Jimmy Savile to get away with the terrible things that he appears to have done.

"I don't think that the BBC has handled this as well as it could have done."

Scotland Yard has confirmed the number of possible sexual abuse victims of Jimmy Savile has risen to 300.

The TV presenter and DJ, who died last year aged 84, is believed to have abused scores of young girls and some boys over a 40-year period.

Police have so far spoken to 130 victims and officers have recorded 114 allegations.