Sharon returns for Phil's help

EastEnders' Sharon Rickman will return to Albert Square a damsel in distress after her son is kidnapped, it has been claimed.

Letitia Dean, who announced in February she was returning to the BBC soap after six years, has been pictured filming scenes in a forest with Steve McFadden, who plays her ex Phil Mitchell, and a young boy.

Sharon fled Albert Square after her second husband, her adoptive brother Dennis Rickman, was stabbed and tied in her arms.

The Mirror reports that she has since given birth to Dennis Jr, who has been kidnapped by her nasty ex-boyfriend, so she comes back to Walford to beg Phil's help to get her son back.

Meanwhile, the Daily Star reports that the kidnap and her return will take place on her wedding day to her third husband.

Letitia said in February: "I am really looking forward to being part of the EastEnders team again, as it has always been very close to my heart. I cannot wait to work with my old colleagues and see what is in store for Sharon."

Her dramatic return is expected to hit screens at the end of August

Former Queen Vic landlady Sharon has been one of the show's key characters and her affair with brother-in-law Phil led to one of the soap's highest rating episodes. It also prompted her departure from the series in 1994.

Sharon returned in 2001 to take over at the Vic, which had formerly been run by her adoptive parents, Angie and Den Watts. She stayed until 2004 and then returned again the following year, only to bow out once more in January 2006, after Dennis (Nigel Harman) died.