CLAIMS by Mark Thompson, former director-general of the BBC, that he was unaware that Newsnight had investigated child sex-abuse allegations against Jimmy Savile have been contradicted by Helen Boaden, the BBC’s most powerful female executive.

The Sunday Times has learnt that lawyers acting for Boaden, the outgoing director of news, told the independent inquiry into the scandal that she had informed Thompson in a telephone call in December 2011 about the nature of the accusations against Savile.

Thompson, who stood down as director-general in September and is now chief executive of The New York Times, has repeatedly insisted he “never heard any allegations” about Savile in the eight years he was in charge of the corporation.