EMMERDALE fans will be upset to hear that despite their protests against the storyline,

Belle Dingle’s abuse is set to get even worse. The poor bride has been suffering at Tom King’s

hands ever since they got married. It all started on their wedding night, when he pushed

her to consummate the marriage even though she didn’t feel ready, then forced her to sleep alone on the couch afterwards. Things only went downhill from there as Tom began to bully his wife, which eventually escalated into physical violence. His secret abuse was nearly uncovered when Belle checked herself into a mental health crisis centre, but in horrifying scenes, he managed to lure her back by threatening her dog. The controversial moment sparked around 1,000 complaints to Ofcom as viewers felt the violence had gone too far. However, show bosses protested that the storyline had been researched and reflected the behaviour of real abusers, who often target pets to get to their victim.

Belle was finally planning her escape to Scotland when Tom discovered she had an abortion and accidentally electrocuted himself during a fit of rage. He was left wheelchair bound, which left Belle feeling too guilty to run away. New Emmerdale producer Sophie Roper has revealed that the twisted vet will take the opportunity to create even more distance between Belle and her loved ones. In a press day interview, she shared: “We’ve got a special episode coming up that sees Tom and Belle head off to Wales on a trip away together. “Tom is very much isolating Belle from her family, from her surroundings, from everything that she knows and loves.

“Which is very much unfortunately a typical trait of abusers and people who are trying to isolate their victims from their family. “So it will be difficult drama at moments but a really important message and a really important story that we’re keen to continue to tell.” On a lighter note, she also spoke about how hard the designers on set worked to transform the Dales into a rural Welsh setting. Sophie added: “Actually we recreated Wales in Yorkshire. Our fantastic design team, we’ve got a cottage up in the village that we’ve redressed and made this beautiful Welsh retreat. “So it’s really fantastic the lengths that they’ve gone to to create that within our world. “The story of course, those set to the backdrop of this beautiful cottage, will be really hard-hitting and difficult at moments.”