The Carters are carted off?
THE CARTERS PREPARE FOR BATTLE…
Desperate Mick and Linda draw up a strategy to save the Vic this week, as Willmott-brown gives them just five weeks to find a small fortune to pay a phoney repair bill – or clear out of the boozer entirely!
The Carters are horrified to discover that the building needs significant repairs, and that the owners of the freehold – Willmott-brown’s front company Grafton Hill – are demanding they pay the full cost of the work. With no chance of finding the money, the Carters start to wonder if they’re facing defeat – until Whitney comes up with a plan that might just pave the way for them to stay put…
“There’s no way Mick and Linda are going to lose their beloved pub without a fight,” says our Eastenders spy. “They turn to Fi at first, convinced she’ll have some suggestions about how they can make the payments, but she tells them her hands are tied. However, Whitney reckons there’s an opportunity for them to pay the debt by breaking it down into instalments. Now they have to hope that the chairman of Grafton Hill will agree…”
What they don’t know is that the whole building repair scam is just a way for wicked Willmott-brown to manoeuvre them out of Walford. He’s intent on razing the entire community to the ground and building expensive houses and flats on the site of the Square to make
The Carters turn to Fi, but she tells them her hands are tied”
a mint. Having stunned the Carters with the bill, Fi and the chairman, Hugo, are convinced they’ll skulk off and start again elsewhere – but neither has reckoned on the clan’s resilience.
Linda insists that Fi arrange a meeting between them and the chairman so she can make their case. Although Fi knows it’s pointless, she’s forced to make it look as if there’s a chance, and she tells irritated Hugo that the Carters won’t have the cash on the day. When Friday comes, Mick and Linda join the meeting and beg Hugo to give them time to pay off the repair bill in instalments. However, in response, he coolly tells them that if the money doesn’t appear within five weeks, they’re out!
“This is horrifying for the Carters – they can’t believe they’ve got so little time to save their home and business!” sighs our source. “Fi makes some big show of being as shocked as they are, but Shirley’s got her number. She reckons that Fi is just faking her concern and that Grafton Hill will do anything to get shot of them. They have a huge task on their hands – but with Willmott-brown hell-bent on wrecking Walford, do Mick and Linda stand any chance?”