Emmerdale has paid a moving tribute to one of its former stars Dale Meeks following his tragic death aged 47. The news was announced by a family member on Facebook on Sunday (April 23) and prompted an influx of tributes including from Ant McPartlin and Dec Donnelly.
He previously played a gang leader of a rival youth club on the CBBC show Byker Grove and later appeared as Simon Meredith in the ITV soap. Most recently, Meeks appeared in the ITV drama The Hunt for Raoul Moat, as Moat's friend Rory Sutcliffe. The ITV drama hit the screens recently, with Meeks appearing in an episode of the hit series just last week.
In a tribute on Twitter, Ant and Dec, who portrayed PJ and Duncan in Byker Grove at the start of their careers, wrote: "We are so incredibly sorry to hear the very sad news of Dale's passing. He was the loveliest of guys, even though he was a Denton 'Burner', the the arch nemesis of the Byker 'Grovers'! A sad loss at such a young age. RIP Dale. Sleep well bonny lad."
