Baby shock for Emmerdale's Zoe

Emmerdale's lesbian vet Zoe Tate is to discover she's pregnant in the soap's latest shock storyline.

Zoe's descent into schizophrenia has kept audiences gripped over the past few months and her life is about to take another twist.

Viewers have seen Zoe, played by actress Leah Bracknell, sleep with mechanic Ben Freeman a few weeks ago.

But because of her mental illness, Zoe has no memory of it - so is stunned to find out she is expecting a baby.

An Emmerdale spokeswoman said: "Zoe is taken to hospital after a fainting fit and the doctors tell her she's pregnant. She doesn't believe them and takes a pregnancy test of her own which confirms the news.

"It comes as a total shock because she can't remember sleeping with a man at all. She has no idea how it has happened and even thinks she may have been raped."

The storyline emerged as the Emmerdale cast celebrated the forthcoming 30th anniversary of the ITV1 soap.

Stars including Sheree Murphy, who plays Trisha, and Stan Richards, who plays Seth Armstrong, gathered at the set in the Yorkshire countryside to toast the show's success.

What began as sleepy rural soap Emmerdale Farm in 1972 has been transformed by a succession of racy storylines into one of ITV1's most popular programmes.

The show underwent a radical revamp in 1993 with a dramatic plane crash which wiped out half the cast and since then there has been murder, lesbianism and a teenage pregnancy.