Line-dancers complain about 'Enders portrayal

A group of line-dancers in Southport have complained about the way that their hobby has been portrayed in recent episodes of EastEnders.

The characters of Garry Hobbs (Ricky Groves) and Minty Peterson (Cliff Parisi) have been seen line-dancing on the BBC One soap recently, but producers' decision to show the pair wearing cowboy-style outfits as they do so has caused some controversy.

Even the writers' choice of music has been criticised; the Southport line-dancers use dance and hip-hop music for their routines, rather than country and western tracks.

"Really, I think they were making a mockery of line-dancers," instructor Betty Drummond told BBC News. "Line-dancing is a great form of dance, a great form of exercise - I don't like it when I see people making fun of it."

Steve Healy, editor of a line-dancing website, added: "People say line-dancing isn't cool, but you've had line-dancers who have gone on to dance with Kylie on-stage and choreograph stage shows. Line-dancing gets kids doing some sports and off the street."