A lean Christmas for the Moon family

The Moon family will find themselves homeless and jobless this Christmas.

10:41 02 November 2004

The Moon family will find themselves homeless and jobless this Christmas, as EastEnders writers get tough in a bid to win back viewers.

Hapless Alfie loses the Queen Vic to Dirty Den and ends up spending the festive period in a chip van with his younger brother Spencer.

Poor old Alfie is already down in the dumps after his wife Kat left him, but according to the Sun newspaper things will just keep on getting worse for one of the soap's most popular characters.

"The Moons have no money and nowhere to go," a show insider told the paper. "It's Christmas Eve and it's freezing."

Alfie is forced to beg Ian Beale to let him and Spencer sleep in his chip van.

The show's producers are desperate to win back viewers and turn around their flagging ratings.

The Christmas period will also see loveable rogue Paul Trueman meet a grisly end.