Emmerdale star Natalie J Robb has explained why her character Moira Dingle will tear her family apart in her upcoming storyline.

Scenes set to air over the next few days will see the Tates pile on the pressure for Moira to sell her farm, and home, to them. There’s also a break-in by some masked troublemakers, and Moira assumes it’s the Tates.

She goes to confront Joe and throws a punch… which ends up hitting Lydia!

But it’s what happens after which really causes a divide in the family.

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“Obviously Moira doesn’t handle it in the best way, but [Sam] knows that she hasn’t deliberately done it to Lydia,” Robb said.

“He’s divided more because Cain then threatens Lydia not to press charges. It’s Joe Tate, she [Lydia] doesn’t do anything, it’s Joe Tate that drops the complaint, he thinks she’s a bit of a nutter but I think Joe Tate quite likes Moira’s feistiness, that she’s strong and she’s doing everything she can to keep things together.

“But Sam doesn’t like the fact that Lydia was threatened and Moira is saying to Cain, ‘You didn’t threaten her, did you?’ and he’s like, ‘No, not at all’.

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But obviously he does and it all comes out. It just makes things worse, so [Sam and Lydia are] not talking to [Cain and Moira] at the moment.

“[She’s] desperately trying to encourage Cain to eat humble pie and say sorry and sort it out, otherwise this could be a family feud, because Sam’s really upset about it.”