EastEnders actor Nitin Ganatra, who plays Masood Ahmed, has quit the soap.

Nitin first appeared on the BBC series nine years ago and it seems his fans are disappointed he has decided to leave.

After hearing the news, one person tweeted: "No!! Gutted Masood is leaving!! Long been one of my favourites on the square!"

Another person wrote: "@GanatraNitin will miss you in #EastEnders #masood it won’t be the same without you."

And other person posted: "Really going to miss you @GanatraNitin you are my fav in the show #masood #EastEnders good luck for the future."

In response to his fans, Nitin wrote: "Genuinely touched by the response to the news of my leaving EastEnders. Thank you for the Masood love."

Nitin will film his final scenes later this year but he will not be killed off and can return to the show in the future.

He told the Radio Times he wanted to try out new things, saying: "When I trained as an actor, I set out to play many different characters and never did I know that I would be so fortunate to have found a character that I have loved playing for nine years.

"However, after thinking long and hard, I have decided that it is time to get back out there and take on some there roles.

"I will of course miss everyone at EastEnders - I have had a brilliant time there, and who knows, maybe one day Masood may be back."