Emmerdale addresses Debbie Dingle star Charley Webb's future

Emmerdale's Charley Webb has played Debbie Dingle for close to two decades, but it's looking like she's set for an extended period on the sidelines.

Last seen earlier in the year, the Yorkshire Dales stalwart is currently up in Scotland making a new life for herself after Al tricked Charity into revealing Debbie and Priya's revenge plan, but a spokesperson for the soap has now addressed the character's future.

"There are no current plans for Debbie Dingle to return," they told The Sun, which went on to claim that the actress has actually quit the role.

charles anderson and debbie dingle in emmerdale

ITV

Speculation about Webb's future on the show comes shortly after reports that her co-star and husband Matthew Wolfenden has been absent from filming, along with Isabel Hodgins, following reports of a row on set.

Emmerdale later responded to reports of a racism complaint on set by saying it "has robust policies in place to deal with any allegations brought to our attention". It has been reported that a mixed-race actress was upset by an "inappropriate comment" made on set, and that her accent was also mimicked, during filming earlier this year.

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Wolfenden and Hodgins have not publicly addressed the speculation, but it was previously reported that they have categorically denied all the allegations.

charley webb and matthew wolfenden in june 2017

Karwai Tang/WireImage//Getty Images

Webb first joined Emmerdale in 2002, with her first scenes airing on Christmas Eve that year.

Her character Debbie has been involved in a number of high-profile storylines including discovering that Charity is her mother, welcoming her daughter Sarah aged 15, finding out that her partner Cameron was a serial killer, and sustaining life-threatening injuries in a helicopter crash.

In more recent years, Debbie has been seen dealing with the news that her daughter Sarah's cancer had returned, and becoming involved in a bitter feud with Joe Tate, and confessing that she was behind an acid attack on Ross Barton.

Emmerdale airs on weeknights at 7pm on ITV, with an extra episode at 8pm on Thursdays.