Emma Davies to leave 'Emmerdale'

Emmerdale actress Emma Davies is to leave the ITV soap at the end of her current contract.

The 38-year-old actress, who joined the show back in June as Anna De Souza, is due to finish filming within the next couple of weeks and will bow out when her storyline reaches a dramatic climax in December.

The storyline will also involve the exit of her screen father Donald de Souza (Michael Jayston) and screen lover Matthew King (Matt Healy).

Of her departure, she said: "The opportunity of playing Anna has been a joy from start to finish. I've enjoyed being part of such a fantastic, hard-working and super talented team.

"I've made some great friends who I will of course miss very much but I'm excited about getting stuck into filming the culmination of Anna's story."

Series producer Anita Turner told DS: "Emma is a hugely talented actress but Anna's story always dictated a beginning, a middle and an end and that will culminate in dramatic scenes in December, which are being filmed at the moment."

Other Emmerdale departures include Roxanne Pallett (Jo Sugden) and Mathew Bose (Paul Lambert), while Emily Symons (Louise Appleton) is taking a temporary break for the soap for family reasons.

Earlier this year, Bose's on-screen civil partner Jonny Foster (Richard Grieve) was axed, along with Grayson Sinclair (Christopher Villiers) and Perdy Hyde-Sinclair (Georgia Slowe).

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