Windsor will not return until next year

Windsor, 65, has been suffering from a virus which has been leaving her tired and feeling low.

The actress, who plays Queen Vic landlady Peggy Mitchell, has been suffering from the Epstein-Barr virus which is linked to glandular fever in teenagers.

She had been due to take a year-long break from the show from May, but the illness has now flared up more seriously and she will not return until next year.

Barbara has been a real trouper in working on with the show Louise Berridge, EastEnders executive producer

Windsor has been in the BBC One show for almost 12 years.

She is believed to have been feeling unwell since a car accident last year.

She had been travelling in a taxi when it was involved in a collision in October.

The illness was thought to have lain dormant and may have been triggered by the accident.

Her manager, Barry Burnett, said on Monday: "It is generally known that Barbara Windsor's condition of Epstein Barr, a strain of glandular fever, is an unpredictable illness.

She is known to millions as Queen Vic landlady Peggy Mitchell

"Although Barbara was set to finish filming EastEnders on 2 May, the condition has flared up to such an extent that the probability is Barbara will be unable to fulfil filming commitments for the last month of her contract."

He asked for her to be given privacy to allow her time to rest.

EastEnders executive producer Louise Berridge said cast and crew were wishing her well.

"Barbara has been a real trouper in working on with the show despite her glandular fever, and her overriding concern throughout has been that the programme should not suffer," she said.

A spokeswoman for the show added: "Barbara would rather come to work every day but health must come first."

Windsor had been working on her final scenes before her break but had not completed them before her departure.

Now show bosses are having to rewrite scripts to account for her disappearance.