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BBC bosses have been blasted for letting the cost of the new EastEnders set spiral by £27million.

The bill for rebuilding the soap’s HQ is set to come to £87million of licence fee money, rather than the £60million originally planned.

The set in Elstree, Hertfordshire, was supposed to be completed by August but now will not be finished until 2023.

Labour MP Wes Streeting said: “This looks like a case of art imitating life as the cost of Albert Square seems to have rocketed as fast as east London’s house prices.

“Even avid fans of the soap will raise eyebrows at these costs.”

The E20 project, which will allow high-definition filming, was conceived in 2013 with the aim of saving almost £500,000 a year.

It will replace the current set at BBC Elstree Centre which was built to last just two years back in 1984.

The new front lot replicates Albert STAR Shane Richie plays Alfie Moon BY NICOLA METHVEN AND BEN GLAZE Square and the traditional set and the back lot is made to look more like the streets of 21st century London. A damning report by watchdogs the National Audit Office blamed the 45 per cent increase in costs on over-optimism, lack of expertise and delays in construction. The BBC first revised their plans in 2015, moving their target completion date to October 2020. However, in October last Streeting