Quirke joins 'Emmerdale' cast

TV star Pauline Quirke has swapped Essex for Emmerdale to start filming her new role in the rural soap – and admitted it was an emotional experience.

The actress, famed for starring in 'Birds of a Feather', posed outside the Woolpack pub and at the entrance to the village as she settled into life in the Yorkshire Dales.

Just hours earlier she confessed to fighting back tears at stepping on to the set of her late mother’s favourite soap.

She said: “My first scene was in the village – that village is unbelievable. My mum absolutely loved Emmerdale and so to get on set and actually see that Woolpack, it was actually really emotional so I had a little cry. But then I pulled myself together!”

Quirke will hit screens in August as Hazel, the lively and free-spirited mum of Aaron Livesy’s love interest Jackson Walsh.

Hazel initially plans on making a flying visit to the village, but extends her stay when she gets caught up in a storyline involving Aaron (Danny Miller) and Jackson (Marc Silcock).