EastEnders' Big Mo, otherwise known as Laila Morse, declared bankrupt

Laila Morse, known to millions for her role as EastEnders' Big Mo, who has been declared bankrupt. (PA)

Laila Morse, known to millions for her role as EastEnders' Big Mo, has been declared bankrupt.

The sister of Hollywood actor and director Gary Oldman filed a petition for bankruptcy earlier this month. It was announced officially in the London Gazette.

Morse, 68, who was listed under the name Maureen Bass, now makes guest appearances in Albert Square after her regular contract with the BBC reportedly ended last year.

She got her big screen break when she was cast in Oldman's gritty film Nil By Mouth, playing the mother of a drug addict, and later went on to land her EastEnders role.

Morse has a son who has been addicted to heroin for a number of years and in her autobiography, published last year, she told how she would give him money because she could not bear to see him in pain as he craved the drug.

"When he got on to heroin he turned to crime to feed his habit, but I visited him in prison. And when he was out I'd drive him to his dealers and give him money for his next fix because I couldn't see him in agony," she said in an interview when the book was released.

The actress, who lives in New Cross, south-east London, is not alone as a notable figure from EastEnders who has filed for bankruptcy. Former star Martine McCutcheon did the same earlier this year with debts of £187,000.

PA