As fans of Emmerdale will know, Laura Norton made her debut on the soap this week in the role of Amy Wyatt’s mother Kerry…

And in her very first scenes, she had to smack Amy – who’s played by Chelsea Halfpenny – in the kisser after she spotted her snogging her toyboy in a night club.

Last night, we saw Kerry turn up in the village looking for Amy, and getting short shrift from Amy’s foster mum Val Pollard (Charlie Hardwick) who told her that Amy didn’t want anything to do with her.

However, Laura has revealed that Kerry’s not prepared to give up without a fight, and to that end, she’s going to stay in the village and “raise hell…”

Speaking to TV Biz, Laura began by saying that Kerry isn’t the sort of woman anyone wants to mess with, especially not when she’s had a few.

She said, “When Kerry flies off the handle she causes merry hell.

“So far I’ve punched Amy, smacked someone with a handbag, got blind drunk, had fights and been hospitalised — and I’ve only been filming for six weeks.

“Kerry is totally out of control and can be a madwoman, especially when she’s drunk.

“But she is also vulnerable and tries her best to get things right.

“Some of the scenes I’ve filmed are so emotional that I was genuinely in tears.

“The challenge will be to show the audience that there are two sides to her.”

Of the fight scene that marked her debut on the show, Laura said, “I was terrified about hitting Chelsea (Chelsea Halfpenny, who plays Amy) on my first day on set — mainly because I didn’t want to give her a split lip.

“I’ve hit an actor on stage before — he was supposed to fake it but hit me properly so I reciprocated — and I didn’t want to do that to Chelsea by accident.

“I practised it a few times and just had to throw myself into it. But punching someone is the tip of the iceberg as far as Kerry is concerned.”

Finally Laura, who’s formerly starred in Byker Grove and Vera, admitted she’s delighted she landed the role of Kerry.

She said, “I still can’t believe I’m in the show really. My family are huge fans of Emmerdale so it was always on in the house when I was little.

“When my dad found out I got the part, he cried.

“He and my mum threw a home screening for my first episode and they’ve been glued to it ever since.

“They’ve been in stitches seeing me in Kerry’s ridiculous clothes, getting drunk and tramping through puddles with no shoes on.

“It means a lot to them. They’ve seen me struggling to do this job over the years, and longed for something like this to come along.

“I’ve gone through phases when I’ve been given a part every time I auditioned.

“Other times it feels like all you are hearing is No. You learn not to take it personally but every time you go to an audition and get turned down, it’s easy to forget it affects your family too.

“Luckily mine have been so supportive.

“They’re delighted that I can give up all of the stupid jobs I’ve done in the past to pay the rent.”

Aww bless.