Ed Westwick facing two possible sex assault charges, prosecutors reveal

Ed Westwick, the British actor, is facing two possible charges relating to sexual assault allegations, it has emerged.

Prosecutors in Los Angeles said they were considering charges in the both cases after being passed the files by police within the last month.

Westwick, 30, best known for playing Chuck Bass on Gossip Girl, was forced to publicly denied a rape allegation after   Kristina Cohen, a 27-year-old actress, claimed he had attacked her at his US home in 2014.

He has made no comment on the investigation since November, when he stated that he was cooperating with the authorities and vowed to clear his name.

"I do not know this woman,” he wrote in a tweet that has since been deleted.

"I have never forced myself in any manner, on any woman. I certainly have never committed rape."

The allegations prompted a second claim from Aurélie Wynn, a former actress, who alleged that a “similar” ordeal happened to her when she visited Westwick’s home with her boyfriend at the time, Mark Salling, in 2014.

Rachel Eck, an LA-based producer, also claimed the actor had assaulted her that year, on the night before the Oscars.

Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office spokesman Greg Risling said two cases had been handed over by the Los Angeles Police Department, the first on March 20 and then on April 5.

"Both remain under review," he added.

At Christmas, the BBC scrubbed Westwick from its adaptation of Agatha Christie's Ordeal By Innocence, reshooting his scenes with a different actor and delaying broadcast, preempting the outcome of the police investigation.

It was an unprecedented move for a television drama but echoed Sir Ridley Scott's decision to remove Kevin Spacey from All the Money in the World, his kidnap film, following allegations of sexual impropriety.

Actor Christian Cooke replaced Westwick, who was born in London and raised in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, in re-shoots for the series which also starred Bill Nighy and Anna Chancellor.

Actor Christian Cooke replaced Westwick, originally from Stevenage, Hertfordshire, in re-shoots for the series which also starred Bill Nighy and Anna Chancellor.