EastEnders kidnap story dropped

Updated 14.41 Wed May 23 2007

Keywords: Coronation Street, EastEnders

EastEnders bosses are rewriting a plot about a missing baby because of similarities with the Madeleine McCann case, the BBC has said.

Concerns had been raised that the storyline too closely resembled the abduction of four-year-old Madeleine, who was taken from an apartment in Portugal 20 days ago.

"In the current circumstances it was felt any storyline that included child abduction would be inappropriate and could cause distress to our viewers" - BBC spokeswoman

The plot was due to revolve around two characters - Dr May Wright and Dawn Swann, who is currently pregnant by Dr Wright's husband Rob.

A BBC spokeswoman said: "EastEnders has made the decision to substantially rewrite the current storyline featuring Dawn Swann and Dr May Wright due to the events surrounding the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

"In the current circumstances it was felt any storyline that included child abduction would be inappropriate and could cause distress to our viewers."

Last month, Coronation Street producers announced plans to ditch a main summer storyline about a snatched baby, which was to feature the kidnap of baby Freddie Peacock following a fire in the famous cobbled street.