Lord McAlpine has dropped his defamation case against the Twitter users who wrongly linked him to child sex offences.
McAlpine was set to sue those who tweeted or retweeted messages claiming that he was a paedophile, a claim made by the BBC’s Newsnight that led to the resignation of then director general George Entwistle.
He is, however, set to continue his case against Sally Bercow, with a claim for libel damages against her tweets making the same claims.
It was thought that up to 10,000 people, including comedian and actor Alan Davies, could be involved in the action should it have proceeded.
"I have dropped all claims against those tweeters with less than 500 followers, in return for a very modest donation to BBC Children In Need, which funds 2,600 projects supporting disadvantaged children and young people in the UK,” said McAlpine in a statement.
The BBC has settled with Lord McAlpine for £185,000 in damages following the Newsnight programme going to air in November last year. ITV was also forced to settle, paying him £125,000.