EastEnders Ramadan scene defended

Actor Nitin Ganatra joined EastEnders in 2007

The BBC has defended an EastEnders scene in which a Muslim character broke his Ramadan fast.

Masood Ahmed, played by Nitin Ganatra, was seen eating by Ian and Jane Beale during the day, which is prohibited during the holy month.

The scene broadcast in September on BBC One, prompted 107 people to complain.

The BBC said the scene was supposed to show Massod's "fallibilities" and did not "represent the entire British-Asian or British Muslim experience".

"Although Masood is a practising Muslim, he has his own fallibilities as a human being," it said in a statement.

"He's a fictional character with flaws who realises he has let himself down in a moment of weakness.

"We would like to assure viewers it was not our intention to insult Muslim or Islamic values."

Last month the BBC received more than 200 complaints about a character's relationship with his 15-year-old stepdaughter.

Despite its controversial storylines, EastEnders scooped the best soap award at Monday's Inside Soap awards.