DJ Jimmy Savile dies

London - Friends and police say veteran British broadcaster Jimmy Savile, a famously eccentric popular culture figure, has died at his home in northern England. He was 84.

Savile, known for his garish tracksuits, chunky gold jewellery and boundless enthusiasm for pop music and charity work, was the host of two long-running British television programmes and claimed to have been a confidant to the royal family.

Born in Leeds, northern England, Savile had initially worked in a coalmine before embracing music, building a national profile as a disc jockey in dance halls and later on radio.

Savile, who died on Saturday, claimed have been the first DJ in the world to use two turntables, pioneering techniques later embraced by modern dance music. No cause of death was given.