Townshend was arrested last January following his admission of having visited a website that traffics in illegal pornography featuring under age models. Police said that Townshend had visited the website but had not downloaded the images to his computer. 

A police spokesperson told the Reuters News Service that Townshend “has fully co-operated with the investigation and the decision to caution was made in line with police policy." 

Townshend will be required to submit a DNA sample to British authorities. In January Townshend stated that he visited the website as part of research for a book he is writing. 

After hearing the news that he had been cleared of charges, Townshend issued the following statement to the UK based music magazine NME.COM: "From the very beginning, I acknowledged that I did access this site and that I had given the police full access to all of my computers.

"As I made clear at the outset, I accessed the site because of my concerns at the shocking material readily available on the Internet to children as well as adults, and as part of my research toward the campaign I had been putting together since 1995 to counter damage done by all kinds of pornography on the internet, but especially any involving child abuse.

“The police have unconditionally accepted that these were my motives in looking at this site and that there was no other nefarious purpose, and as a result they have decided not to charge me.  

"I accept that I was wrong to access this site, and that by doing so, I broke the law, and I have accepted the caution that the police have given me."

more on The Who and Pete Townshend

Preview and purchase music from The Who