Sir Cliff: Ordeal left me afraid to go near ball boys

SIR CLIFF Richard’s ordeal following false child sex allegations has left the singer afraid to go near the Wimbledon ball boys’ dressing room alone.

The tennis fan, a regular guest at SW19, says he is now careful if fans ask for him to be pictured with their children.

Sir Cliff, 78, was named as the subject of a historical child abuse investigation by the BBC, who broadcasted the raid on his home in 2014. The probe was dropped two years later. In July a judge ruled the broadcaster was wrong to have named him, and awarded Sir Cliff £210,000 in damages and £850,000 in costs.

Appearing in ITV documentary Sir Cliff Richard – 60 Years in Public and in Private, which airs tonight, Sir Cliff says: ‘I’m careful if people ask me to have pictures taken with their children.’ Of his usual walk to his Wimbledon seats, he says: ‘Since what happened to me I haven’t gone down there because that tunnel is right by the ball boys’ dressing room ... I cannot bring myself to be anywhere like that on my own.’