Emmerdale's Matthew and Charley announce split

Emmerdale stars Charley Webb and Matthew Wolfenden have announced they have split up.

The pair, who play Debbie Dingle and David Metcalfe in the long-running ITV soap about rural life, had a son called Buster in 2010.

A spokeswoman for Emmerdale said: "Charley Webb and Matthew Wolfenden have today confirmed that they have separated. They will remain friends and are focusing on their little boy."

The pair, who got engaged in 2009, are both expected to remain with Emmerdale, which celebrated 40 years on air last year.

Matthew won reality show Dancing On Ice in 2012.

Charley's brother, Jamie Lomas, is married to Coronation Street star Kym Marsh and recently signed up to appear in EastEnders.

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.