Sacked Carty 'upset and angry'

EastEnders star Todd Carty is to leave Albert Square after TV bosses decided to write him out of the show.

Carty, 38, who has played Mark Fowler since 1990, will leave when his £180,000-a-year contract expires next year.

The programme's new producers said his character - one of the longest-running on the BBC soap - has "run its course".

However, according to some reports today, Carty is "extremely upset and angry" at a "bolt from the blue" from the show's new chief, Louise Berridge.

Carty, who first achieved huge popularity as classroom rebel Tucker Jenkins in the children's school series Grange Hill, is now waiting to find out how the show's producers plan to write him out. Although his leather-jacket wearing market trader character has been HIV positive for a decade, his demise is expected to be linked to that of his on-screen wife Lisa Shaw.

Actress Lucy Benjamin, who plays Lisa, announced she wanted to leave earlier this month, and scriptwriters are said to be plotting an "explosive" departure for the pair. Ms Berridge, new executive producer, said: "Todd has made a fantastic contribution to EastEnders, and Mark Fowler has been a pivotal figure for 12 years, but we felt the character had finally run its course."

Carty, who lives in north London with Dina Clarkin, 29, and two sons, said in a statement: "I'm looking forward to trying new things, seeing a little more of my children, and finally setting a date for my wedding to Dina next year."