Thorp moving closer to 'Emmerdale' set

Emmerdale veteran Richard Thorp has decided to sell his Welsh home and move closer to the show's Leeds-based studios.

The 78-year-old actor, who plays long-standing character Alan Turner, currently lives in a four-bedroom country house in Powys, meaning that he has a long commute every time he is required on set for his soap scenes.

Speaking to Wales On Sunday, Thorp explained: "It's simply a question of age and work. I've been here for 13 or 14 years and I have totally loved living here.

"But I'm getting on a bit and it is a hell of a long drive to work. It didn't matter when I was doing a lot of work and I would stay for a few days, but I find myself doing a 150-mile trip to do one scene and then coming all the way back again. It's exhausting at my age."

He continued: "Emmerdale has been very good to me and has renewed my contracts for years, but they have not got as much work for me these days - I'm more like the village memorial now than an active character.

"Quite frankly, unless I was working like I used to, I couldn't afford to keep it. I need the work but it is getting very expensive to travel and live so far away, with the work I am getting. It gets harder and harder as you get older."

Thorp - who has been a member of the Emmerdale cast since 1982 - is thought to have put his property on the market for £750,000.