EastEnders to reshoot scene in wake of Bradford murders

A scene in BBC1's EastEnders featuring a prostitute is to be refilmed after a series of murders in Bradford.

An episode to be screened next week was to feature the character Lucas, played by Don Gilet, attempting to attack a sex worker in a red light district.

But after criminology student Stephen Griffiths - who dubbed himself "the Crossbow Cannibal" when appearing in court last week - was charged with the murders of three women who worked as prostitutes in Bradford, the EastEnders sequence will be reshot.

A spokeswoman for the BBC1 soap said it would "ensure we do not cause distress to the families involved in these tragic events".

"EastEnders storylines are written many months in advance and any similarity to real life events is coincidental," she said, adding that changes would certainly be made in this exceptional circumstance.

Confirmation of the change to the EastEnders sequence follows the postponement of a Coronation Street episode in the wake of the shootings in Cumbria.

Wednesday's episode of Coronation Street was due to feature a siege involving guns but was postponed after the "tragic events in Cumbria", ITV confirmed.