More than 200 complaints have been made about an EastEnders storyline in which a paedophile grooms his 15-year-old stepdaughter.
The BBC said it had been contacted by 177 people since the plot began on Friday night, with 163 of those making complaints, while media regulator Ofcom said it had received 41 complaints.
The ongoing storyline features the grooming of character Bianca Jackson's stepdaughter Whitney Dean by her stepfather Tony King, played by Chris Coghill.
In Friday's episode of the BBC1 soap, King arrived in Albert Square after spending a year in jail and was shown passionately kissing the underage girl, played by Shona McGarty.
Viewers saw him sneak into her bedroom while Bianca, played by Patsy Palmer, took a bath.
The pair kissed before falling onto the teenager's bed.
A peak audience of 8 million viewers watched the pre-watershed show.
The BBC defended the plot, saying it had been created in association with the NSPCC and was in accordance with its editorial policy.
A BBC spokesman said: "EastEnders has a rich heritage of tackling difficult social issues such as domestic violence and mental health.
"Our current storyline about child abuse is another such issue which had been created in association with the NSPCC and in accordance with BBC editorial policy."
At the end of August, the BBC received 156 complaints over scenes showing character Jase Dyer being attacked by a criminal gang and then lying dead in hospital.
At the time, the BBC said the violence was "implied rather than explicit" but admitted some viewers had found the scenes "uncomfortable".
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