That night, Del comes across the boy again, who tells him that he is running away from home because he got into trouble with his mother for letting the air out of the tyres on the Trotters' Reliant Regal van.
However, when the barmaid unwittingly reveals that Debbie's 19th birthday is imminent, Del deduces that June left him because she was pregnant with his child.
Just when the farce appears to be resolved, Del realises it is too late, as Debbie has now fallen for Mickey Pearce.
As Del leaves the flat, he sarcastically tells a confused Mickey not to take a shortcut across the railway line.
Lennard Pearce died from a heart attack shortly after filming of the fourth series began.
Pearce's photo was also omitted from the opening title sequence, with only David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst appearing.