London: Prosecutors are "carefully considering" a file of evidence relating to allegations of historical sex abuse by Sir Cliff Richard.
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The file of claims against the British entertainer has been passed to prosecutors by South Yorkshire Police after a long investigation, which hit the headlines in August 2014 during a heavily-publicised search of his Berkshire home.
The claims against Sir Cliff have not been confirmed publicly by police.
Sir Cliff, 75, has twice been voluntarily interviewed over the claims, has always denied them, and has never been arrested.
The Crown Prosecution Service said it "received a full file of evidence from South Yorkshire Police".
"We will now carefully consider its contents in line with the Code for Crown Prosecutors, in order to establish whether there is sufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction, and whether it is in the public interest to do so."
A South Yorkshire Police spokeswoman said: "Investigation files relating to allegations of non-recent sexual abuse involving a 75-year-old man have been handed over to the CPS.
"The CPS will now consider the matter and South Yorkshire Police awaits their decision."
A spokesman for the singer said it would be inappropriate to comment while the matter was under review.
According to British media reports, one claim against Sir Cliff relates to an alleged incident involving a 15-year-old boy at a Christian rally for evangelist preacher Billy Graham in Sheffield in 1985.
At the time of the raid, the entertainer issued a statement saying: "For many months I have been aware of allegations against me of historic impropriety which have been circulating online. These allegations are completely false. Up until now I have chosen not to dignify the false allegations with a response, as it would just give them more oxygen."
In August 2014 the BBC was tipped off about the raid on Sir Cliff's home, turning it into a media circus with helicopters hovering overhead and massed media at the entrance to the gated residence.
The raid fuelled a backlash against what was described as media and police overreaction over historical sex abuse claims against famous people.
A BBC reporter had reportedly threatened to break the story prematurely unless he got "inside access" to the raid.
A parliamentary inquiry concluded it was wrong of the South Yorkshire police to confirm to the BBC that Sir Cliff was a suspect, and an MP said "utterly inept" of them to tip them off about the raid.
"No British citizen should have to watch their home being raided by the police live on television. Sir Cliff Richard has suffered enormous and irreparable damage to his reputation and he is owed an apology over the way matters were handled," Keith Vaz, the committee chairman, said.
Sir Cliff's lawyers said the live news coverage of the search caused "very serious harm" to their client.
The parliamentary inquiry found that it was wrong to name suspects when there was no operational need.
However it also found that the name of a subject of an investigation could be publicised if there was an operational need – for example, in order to encourage potential witnesses to come forward.
Many victims of Jimmy Savile had stayed silent for decades before hearing of allegations against him, which "emboldened them" to come forward, the committee said.
