The BBC is "urgently looking into the issues raised" by the allegations of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse against Grays comedian Russell Brand.

A spokesperson for the broadcaster said: "The documentary and associated reports contained serious allegations, spanning a number of years.

"Russell Brand worked on BBC radio programmes between 2006 and 2008 and we are urgently looking into the issues raised."

This comes after a joint investigation by The Times newspaper and Channel 4 docu-series Dispatches into allegations which were said to have occurred between 2006 and 2013.

The Dispatches episode, which aired on Saturday night, covered allegations from a number of women against Russell Brand.

Soon after, a production company, which worked with the accused star, revealed that it was launching an "urgent" internal investigation into the issues raised.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly says questions need to be answered after Russell Brand allegations

Earlier today, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly agreed that questions would need to be answered by the TV industry when he appeared on BBC One current-affairs programme Sunday with Laura Kuensberg.

He said: "I think there are some real challenges where you have these very, very acute differentials in power - whether that be in the entertainment industry, whether that be in politics, and we see this in the commercial world as well.

Thurrock Gazette: The BBC said it was launching an 'urgent' investigation into the issues raised by the Russell Brand allegations (PA)The BBC said it was launching an 'urgent' investigation into the issues raised by the Russell Brand allegations (PA) (Image: PA)

"I think we have to be particularly careful when we listen to the voices of the people who are relatively powerless because we, I think collectively, have missed opportunities to do the right thing and intervene much, much earlier, and we've got to be better at this."

On Saturday, ahead of the airing of the documentary, Russell Brand denied the "very serious criminal allegations" against him on his YouTube channel.

He also claimed that he was the subject of a "coordinated attack" and added that all his relationships have been "consensual".