Rolf Harris is released from Stafford Prison in the UK

DISGRACED children’s entertainer Rolf Harris has barricaded himself inside his luxury mansion after being released from jail.

Rolf Harris arrives at his home being protected by men in plain clothes, in Maidenhead, UK, after being released on bail from prison. Picture: Ben Stevens / i-Images

DISGRACED children’s entertainer Rolf Harris has barricaded himself inside his luxury mansion on the banks of the River Thames after being released from prison.

The 87-year-old Australian entertainer arrived at his home at Bray, in Berkshire, west of London, just after 9am, and was taken inside by several men wearing lanyards, believed to be Ministry of Justice officials.

Plyboard was put up inside some of the windows facing onto the river, and heavy curtains drawn on the windows facing the road, while a woman wearing a hat and heavy coat emerged midmorning to walk a mid-sized dog. She had not returned to the house several hours later.

Harris was apparently secretly released from the Category C prison at Stafford in the English Midlands about 6.30am, and was a back-seat passenger in a blue Ford Mondeo for the 2.5-hour drive down the motorway to Bray.

Rolf Harris arrives at his home in Maidenhead today. Picture: Ben Stevens / i-Images

The casually-dressed Harris, wearing jeans and a warm navy top, was helped out of the car and up the small flight of stairs into his home about 9am.

One man, believed to be a private security guard, covered his face and was wearing a black jumper advertising the Australian anti-whaling activist group Sea Shepherd.

One of the officials carried several clear plastic bags with Harris’ prison belongings, including clothes and a collection of Australian stamps.

The former TV and radio star has requested 24-hour protection be provided by the Ministry for Justice while he remains at his home.

Judge Deborah Taylor granted him bail after an application on Monday and he was formally given his freedom on Friday morning, May 19. The Crown prosecution did not oppose the bail application made by Harris’ defence team.

A media scrum was waiting for Harris as he arrived at the $8.2 million home he shares with his frail wife, Alwen, 85, staking out the street and the river as Harris has been known to come and go from the property by boat.

A prison official confirmed he had left the prison early Friday morning.

Harris was not seen leaving the main gate of the low-security jail at Stafford, leading to questions about whether he received preferential treatment, as other released prisoners walked out the main gate.

Rolf Harris arrives home from Stafford Prison https://t.co/Dt3iE1kE96 #RolfHarris #7News pic.twitter.com/TyzvKi6imf

— 7 News Sydney (@7NewsSydney) May 19, 2017

Rolf Harris gets out of a car at his home, in Maidenhead, UK. Picture: Ben Stevens / i-Images

Heavy rain kept onlookers away, but one man walking past, who identified himself as Billy Tull, said he had been in the same prison at Harris, Bullingdon, in Oxfordshire, early in the year.

Mr Tull, who was there on remand, said Harris was on a separate wing but the prisoners intermingled during visiting hours.

He said that an acquaintance of his, “Bluey’’, had attacked Harris in the jail, saying he “smacked him in the mouth and ran off.’’

“I got out on January 21. It happened just before Christmas. I was on remand for three months and my case got dropped,’’ he said.

Harris’ movements continue to be big news in the UK and commuters honked their horns as they drove past the media pack waiting outside the entrance on Gaol Road in Stafford early in the morning.

Rolf Harris being protected by men in plain clothes, after being released on bail from HMP Stafford. Picture: Ben Stevens / i-Images

He is due to front Southwark Crown Court in London on Monday to fight child sexual assault charges.

The former singer and artist is facing four charges of indecent assault against three teenage girls between 1971 and 1983.

The girls were aged between 13 and 16 at the time Harris groped them, the court has heard.

Rolf Harris is escorted up the stairs to his home, in Maidenhead, UK. Picture: Ben Stevens / i-Images

Harris is accused of groping a 13-year-old girl on her breast in 1983 and asking her “do you often get molested on a Saturday morning?”

He also put his put his hand up the skirt of a 14-year-old girl and touched her through her tights in 1971 and groped a 16-year-old girl on her breast and tried to grab her crotch in 1978, the court has heard.

He has appeared in court via video link from Stafford prison but is due to attend in person when his trial resumes on Monday.

A singer, songwriter, painter and broadcaster, Harris dominated the airwaves in the UK and Australia from the 1960s to the 1980s, painted the Queen’s portrait, hosted his own TV shows and was a national treasure in both his birth country of Australia and his adopted UK.