'Nasty' Nick's son to be axed from 'EastEnders'

Declan Bennett has been axed from 'EastEnders'.

The 34-year-old actor - who has played Dot Branning's grandson Charlie Cotton since early 2014 - is set to leave the BBC One soap after bosses decided to write out his character.

An 'EastEnders' spokesperson told Digital Spy: "We can confirm that Declan Bennett will be leaving 'EastEnders'. We wish him all the best for the future."

Bennett is currently working on his final scenes and has been spotted shooting on-location at a train station.

Charlie is joined by Roxy Mitchell (Rita Simons) and his son Matthew as he prepares to make a fresh start but it's so far unclear whether Roxy will be leaving Walford with him.

Charlie's character was first introduced as the grandson Dot never knew she had and soon became involved in some of the past year's most dramatic storylines as it was revealed he'd been lying about being a policeman and had helped to fake the death of his father, "Nasty" Nick Cotton.

'EastEnders' will air Charlie's exit in early autumn.

News of Declan's departure comes after Lindsey Coulson - who has played Carol Jackson on and off since 1993 - announced she had decided to quit the soap.