Following news reports of sexual assault and rape allegations against UK comedian Russell Brand, police in London have received a number of further sex offence allegations.

An investigation by The Sunday Times, The Times and Channel 4's Dispatches saw four women accuse Brand of sexual assault, rape, and abuse - which the actor and comedian has strongly denied.

In a statement by the Metropolitan Police it was confirmed that the force have since received a "number of allegations of sexual offences in London" as well as elsewhere in the UK.

The Police confirmed that all allegations were non-recent and there have been no arrests made as of yet.

Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy, from the Met’s Central Specialist Crime Command, said: "We continue to encourage anyone who believes they may have been a victim of a sexual offence, no matter how long ago it was, to contact us. We understand it can feel like a difficult step to take and I want to reassure that we have a team of specialist officers available to advise and support."

Police will be offering specialist support to all of the women who have made allegations.

Brand thanked his supporters for "questioning" the allegations of rape and sexual assault made against him in a three-minute clip posted on YouTube, online video platform Rumble, and X/Twitter.

The comedian called the week since the claims were published "extraordinary and distressing".

Bluebird, Brand's publisher, has put "all future publishing" with the comedian on hold, while YouTube has demonetised his content.

Today, shortly after the Metropolitan Police statement was issued, Brand made his return to his regular Rumble show, for the first time since the allegations were made against him.

During the show, Brand said he would talk about the "collusion between big tech and government and an apparent concerted effort by legacy media ... to silence independent media voices."

"Obviously, it's difficult for me to be entirely objective given the events of the last week, but that’s what we must try to do," he added.

Rumble has refused to follow YouTube in blocking the comedian from earning advertising revenue on its site.

Brand described Rumble as having made a "clear commitment to free speech."