One of Emmerdale’s most heart wrenching storylines ever is due to hit our screens next week, and we will watch village vicar Ashley and his wife Laurel get torn apart by the death of their baby boy.

Laurel discovers that her son Daniel has died from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome as she checks on him after a family meal.

“Ashley can’t comfort Laurel, and doesn’t find any consolation for himself either,” John Middleton, who plays vicar Ashley told The Sun.

He added: “The awful thing is, that as the story progresses, everything Ashley says sounds clichéd to Laurel. She’s heard him use the same kind of words with parishioners and there’s no comfort in them for her.”

John explained that the cast and writers had been taking all steps they could to treat the subject with the sensitivity it deserved.

“We’ve been endlessly anxious about getting it right,” he stated.

“Charlotte Bellamy (Laurel) and I have done a lot of reading on the subject, but what is clear is that you just can’t prepare for this sort of grief, it happens like a thunderstorm.”

This storyline hits our screens next Thursday on ITV1 at 7pm.