Meddling maid O'Brien will not be back at DOWNTON ABBEY for the show's upcoming fourth season - actress SIOBHAN FINNERAN has quit the period drama.

Finneran has revealed to British newspaper The Mirror that she won't be returning to TV's most famous stately home.

The actress says, "I'm not doing any more. O'Brien is a thoroughly despicable human being that was great to play."

A spokesman for the TV drama has confirmed Finneran's exit, but adds that her character may return in the future, unlike Dan Stevens' Mathew Crawley, who was killed off at the end of the third season of the show.