London: Rolf Harris could soon be free of the prospect of further jail time after a judge discharged a jury that failed to reach verdicts on four counts of indecent assault against him.

The 87-year-old entertainer has been on trial in London's Southwark Crown Court accused of groping three teenage girls in 1971, 1978 and 1983 when they were aged 14, 16 and 13.

Harris will avoid the prospect of a return to jail if the prosecution decides not to pursue a retrial of the four charges after the jury in an earlier trial also failed to reach verdicts on three of those charges.

Earlier on Tuesday morning, the jury reported they were unable to reach unanimous verdicts so Judge Deborah Taylor allowed them to return majority verdicts.

But the jury later returned to the courtroom where their forewoman confirmed they could not reach majority decisions.

When asked by the judge if they could reach verdicts if given more time, the forewoman replied, "No".

The judge then discharged the jury of seven women and five men who had been sent out on Friday and had deliberated for a total of four hours and 47 minutes.

Prosecuting lawyer Jonathan Rees sought an adjournment until 2pm on Tuesday to seek instructions on whether the prosecution intended to seek a further retrial.

Harris, wearing a dark suit and blue tie, listened quietly to the proceedings in a glass booth in the court.

He was released on bail from prison on May 19 after serving time on previous convictions.

The prosecution said three women, unknown to each other, made very similar complaints that Harris quickly groped them at public events and the only reasonable explanation for such a coincidence was that they were telling the truth.

Defence lawyer Stephen Vullo accused two of the women of fabricating their claims to "jump on the compensation bandwagon" and the other of making up her story up to advance a career as an advocate for sex abuse victims.

Harris was accused of touching a 14-year-old girl between her legs at a youth band event in London in 1971.

He was also accused of squeezing the breast of a 16-year-old girl and running his hand up between her legs in the back of a taxi at a celebrity sports event in 1978.

The third accusation was that he groped the breast of a 13-year-old girl after an entertainment show broadcast at the BBC Television Centre in 1983 and said to her, "Do you often get molested on a Saturday morning".

AAP