Aussie journo names Keith Richards as sex abuse suspect rather than Cliff Richard

Australian Sky News reporter Vanessa Trezise mistakenly named Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards as the suspect in the sex abuse allegations currently engulfing veteran English pop singer Sir Cliff Richard.

The slip-of-the-fingers came about via Twitter, with Ms Trezise tweeting to her almost 1300 followers that police had searched the home of the legendary 70-year-old six-string rocker, rather than the Devil Woman crooner.

After the mistake was brought to her attention, Ms Trezise tweeted she'd had "a brain explosion", blaming a lack of sleep, and said her days of tweeting at the news desk were over.

Overnight it emerged British police have searched the home of the 73-year-old Richard as part of an investigation into allegations of sexual abuse against a teenage boy at a Christian rally in the 1980s.

Richard, whose commitment to Christianity and clean living has been well-documented, has been a household name since the 1950s, having sold more than 250 million albums.

He was knighted in 1995.

Richard has labelled the allegations "completely false" but indicated he would cooperate fully with police.