A former New Forest doctor has been jailed for 18 years for indecently assaulting girls at the UK hospital where Jimmy Savile abused patients.

Michael Salmon, 80, was convicted of nine indecent assaults and two rapes carried out against six girls at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire.

Reading Crown Court heard the attacks took place between 1973 and 1988.

Judge Joanna Cutts described his conduct as a gross breach of trust by a "cold and manipulative" man and said the crimes were more horrific because they were carried out against "vulnerable children".

Police said more women had contacted them with allegations against Salmon, who was struck off the medical register in 1991, since the start of the trial.

The trial heard he abused children behind a screen while their parents waited, believing he was carrying out a medical examination.

On some occasions he groped the girls' breasts under the pretence of listening to their heart, the court was told.

After Salmon was found guilty, Det Sgt Malcolm Wheeler said the former doctor was a "prolific sexual offender" who "preyed on young girls".

He worked at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in the 1970s and 1980s at the same time as Savile was abusing vulnerable girls. but their crimes were not said to be linked.

Savile, a volunteer porter, was said to have committed 22 offences at the hospital.

An independent inquiry was set up to look into Savile's activities and this led other women to come forward to accuse Salmon.