Johnny 0 Grant 1

Grant Mitchell may have only recently returned to Walford but he has taken little time to re-establish himself as the number one hard nut on EastEnder

10:45 21 October 2005

Grant Mitchell may have only recently returned to Walford but he has taken little time to re-establish himself as the number one hard nut on EastEnders.

Johnny Allen, played by Billy Murray, has become the main bully around town in the absence of Grant, played by Ross Kemp, and brother Phil, played by Steve McFadden.

But the return of the Mitchell brothers posed an immediate and obvious threat to Johnny's position.

Clearly anxious to retain his top billing, Johnny set about overshadowing Grant's reputation and has taken to referring to him as a "muppet".

But Ross moved to quell fears that he'd gone soft during his time away and promptly humiliates the wannabe gangster when he, side by side with Phil, foils a plan by Johnny targeting the affable Mitchell mother, Peggy.

"Grant and Phil will arrive just in time to stop one of Johnny's thugs beating their mother up," a show mole told the Daily Star.

Johnny's anger is then fuelled further when he launches an attack on Grant but misses with a swinging hook and ends up flat out on the floor, much to his embarrassment.

"And they will be thirsting for revenge," the insider added.

"Everyone is sworn to secrecy but the Mitchell-Allen war will be waged to the bitter end. And a bitter end it is!"