The BBC has confirmed it has launched an investigation after a script for the EastEnders' Christmas special was reportedly stolen and offered to a journalist for money. According to the MailOnline, a temporary worker attempted to sell them the script for £4,000. It included the nature of Abi and Lauren Branning's shock exit from the soap, which he described to the publication as a "really dramatic ending". The worker claimed that he had found the document "just lying on the curb" outside Elstree Studios, where EastEnders is filmed. "It was as if someone had been sitting there reading it and had left it, or as of it had been dropped out of someone's bag," he said. "I was working there and I didn't steal it. It was just there on the kerb."
© Photo: BBCThe script reportedly revealed deatils of Lauren and Abi Branning's exit storyline
The MailOnline said the individual first contacted them via email, reportedly writing: "If you offer me a figure for the scripts, I'd be willing to let you know if I'd accept or not, then we could maybe come to an agreement. I believe something like this to be worth in the region of low thousands as opposed to low hundreds." It was revealed back in September that Max Branning's daughters Lauren and Abi – played by Jacqueline Jossa and Lorna Fitzgerald – would be leaving the show, as part of a shake-up by new producer John Yorke. And there were dramatic scenes for the sisters during Tuesday night's Halloween episode, which saw the pair both end up covered in Steven Beale's ashes.
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© Photo: BBCThe sisters (Jacqueline Jossa and Lorna Fitzgerald) are set to leave the BBC soap over Christmas
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Abi and Lauren clashed when Abi confessed to her affair with Steven, after Lauren caught her wearing her wedding dress. In the gripping showdown, Abi confessed her love for her sister's boyfriend, and admitted she had known he wasn't suffering with an inoperable brain tumour. But the final straw for Lauren came when she discovered Abi was still in possession of Steven's ashes. The pair fought as Lauren tried to flush them down the toilet, only for the sisters to end up covered in the ashes. Of course, Abi is still keeping one big secret – the fact she's expecting Steven's baby…
