Neighbours veteran Tom Oliver is cutting back on his commitments as Lou Carpenter, taking a backseat in the soap.

The long-running character arrived in Erinsborough in 1988, but has been making fewer appearances in the Aussie show by going down to a regular guest star.

Now, Lou has announced that he will move to Queensland and Tom has been taken off the programme’s opening titles.

Neighbours Lou Carpenter
Tom Oliver plays Lou Carpenter in Neighbours (Channel Five)

A Neighbours spokesman told Digital Spy of the 76-year-old: “Tom has scaled back his workload over the past few years and while he will not be appearing as regularly on Neighbours, good news for the many Lou Carpenter fans is the producers have persuaded him to continue to do guest appearances.

“He will be returning later in the year to film a significant storyline.”

Lou’s exit will air in the UK next week, when he takes his grieving grandson Bailey Turner to live in Queensland after the death of his father, Matt.