William Ash leaving 'Waterloo Road' for "fresh challenge"

William Ash has admitted that he decided to quit Waterloo Road before he no longer enjoyed the role.

The actor will bow out of the BBC drama as deputy head teacher Chris Mead, when the seventh series comes to a conclusion next week. Speaking to TV Times, Ash revealed that Chris decides to pack in his career to protect students Scout and Liam, who have been abandoned by their mother.

"Chris is under pressure from all sides and feels completely under the cosh. He doesn't want to walk away and leave Scout and Liam to the authorities," he said. "But he also doesn't want to throw his career away. It's a real catch-22 situation for him.

"He chooses to go after Scout and Liam, as he's afraid something really bad could happen to them. He ends up having to choose between helping them or his career, and he sacrifices his career!"

Explaining his alter ego's reasoning, he added: "He has an epiphany and realises he can no longer be just a teacher. He's got to do something else where he can get more involved. Teaching isn't enough for him."

On leaving the drama, Ash commented: "I wanted a fresh challenge - and it turns out that fresh challenge is the dole queue! Only joking. I really enjoyed being on Waterloo Road, I've had a great time and made good friends. I wanted to leave while I was still really enjoying it. And I knew it was time to do something else."

The 34-year-old confirmed that he has filmed an episode of Shameless and is to spend the next few months in a play at the Globe theatre.

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Watch the trailer for Waterloo Road's seventh series finale, which airs July 6 at 7.30pm on BBC One, below: