Complaints on sex attack
in Emmerdale

Thursday’s episode, brought forward to the earlier time of 6.45pm because of Europa League football, saw Natalie Anderson’s character Alicia Metcalfe sexually assaulted by teenager Lachlan White, played by Thomas Atkinson.

An Ofcom spokesman said: “Ofcom has received 47 complaints regarding Emmerdale on ITV. We are assessing these before deciding whether to investigate or not.”

A spokeswoman for the ITV soap said: “Lachlan is a very troubled teenager and his assault upon Alicia is the beginning of a very dark storyline for his character. We thoroughly researched this aspect of the plot and the drama was intentionally implicit rather than explicit.”

Viewers were told before the episode was broadcast that it included “distressing” scenes “that some viewers may find difficult to watch”.