After being arrested and quizzed by police, he is then said to have contacted a second force, which took his abuse claim seriously. It was included in a file passed to prosecutors.
The revelation puts more pressure on the police and CPS, whose handling of the 22-month investigation prompted angry Sir Cliff to complain he was “hung out for live bait”.
A leading human rights attorney, Geoffrey Robertson QC, blasted police for raiding Sir Cliff in a blaze of publicity, with BBC cameras present.
He said: “There should be an inquiry into why a search ­warrant was ever granted. There was not sufficient ­evidence. The law should have protected Sir Cliff but it didn’t. The danger of exposing this to the world – which is done deliberately in the hope people will come forward – is those who come forward may be fantasists or criminals looking for money.”
The alleged blackmailer is said to have had mental health problems and faced no charges.The alleged blackmailer is a man in his 40s who is said to have had mental health problems. No charges were brought against him. On Friday it was claimed that another of the star’s nine accusers was himself a psychopathic serial rapist with an extreme mental illness. Another told police Sir Cliff was wearing roller skates when he abused him in 1981.