Susan Cookson has reportedly been dropped from her role as Wendy Posner on Emmerdale after six years.
The character, who works as a nurse at the village surgery, arrived in 2019 after her evil son Lee (Kris Mochrie) raped and impregnated Victoria (Isabel Hodgins).
During her time in the Dales, she has got into a relationship with Bob (Tony Audenshaw) and embarked upon a bizarre affair with Liam (Jonny McPherson), while also getting to know Victoria and her young grandson Harry.
According to The Sun, however, producers have decided that the character has run its course and her final scenes will play out in a matter of weeks.
"Susan was devastated at the decision. She loves the show and loves being part of it," a source told the newspaper.
"She's really well liked in the cast but unfortunately budget cuts mean hard decisions need to be made and that resulted in Susan being one of a number of cast leaving.
"ITV is going through a cash crisis with the soaps and the money just isn't there to pay for everyone any more.
"Ultimately if the character isn't inspiring a lot of story from producers then there's no space for them in the show anymore."
They added: "The door is very much being left open for Susan in future and it's hoped that one day she could return to see her grandson Harry."
Cookson becomes the latest star to exit the soap in recent months, or be about to exit the soap, following on from Will (Dean Andrews), Amelia (Daisy Campbell), Brenda (Lesley Dunlop), Leyla (Roxy Shahidi), Ella (Paula Lane), Tom (James Chase) and Nate (Jurell Carter).
Neil Wilkes
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