Stuart Hall
Stuart Hall has been charged with raping a 22-year-old woman in 1976 (Reuters)

BBC presenter Stuart Hall has been charged with 15 counts of rape and indecent assault at a Cheshire police station.

The 83-year-old football commentator and It's a Knockout host was arrested in Wilmslow after attending a police station by appointment, Lancashire Police said.

He has been charged with the rape of a 22-year-old woman, which is alleged to have taken place in 1976 - at which time Hall was a presenter for BBC regional news programme North West Tonight.

The presenter has also been charged with 14 counts of indecent assault involving 10 girls aged between nine and 16. These offences are alleged to have taken place between 1967 and 1986.

Hall has been bailed and will appear before magistrates in Preston on 7 February, police said.

At Preston magistrates court earlier this month, Hall pleaded not guilty to charges of indecent assault on three girls between the ages of eight and 17. These offences are said to have taken place in the 1970s and 1980s.

The charges against Hall are unrelated to the allegations against his fellow former BBC presenter, Jimmy Savile, who is accused of committing over 200 sex crimes before his death in 2011.

In January, Hall was awarded an OBE in the Queen's New Year Honours List for his services to broadcasting.

Speaking about the honour, he said: "I am very proud that I have made a contribution. It's been acknowledged and lots of people around the world will be very pleased as my family is and I am too - very, very pleased indeed.

"Lots and lots of people do great jobs throughout the world and receive no acknowledgement. So for a humble guy like me - Hadfield bred - to receive an honour is a great accolade."