Emmerdale star Eden Taylor-Draper has spoken about her character Belle

King’s heartwarming Christmas Day storyline.

Belle is treated to a Christmas miracle next week as she’s unexpectedly reunited with her

beloved pet dog Piper.

Next week’s episodes see Belle confide in her nephew Vinny with her suspicions that Piper isn’t dead.

Belle’s abusive husband Tom tricked her into thinking that he’d killed Piper earlier this year, but he’d secretly handed the dog over to new owners.

Teaming up with his girlfriend Gabby Thomas for some detective work, Vinny manages to track Piper down and hands her back to Belle on Christmas Day.

Speaking to Digital Spy and other press about the storyline, Eden explained: “Belle never actually saw Piper’s body. She never really saw what actually happened, she was just told by Tom. She can’t get that out of her head.

“Tom has obviously lied about so much, so she just thinks: ‘We never saw the evidence. We buried a casket, but who knows what’s in there?’

“Before Christmas, she’s determined to open the casket and Vinny’s like: ‘You don’t know what’s going to be under here. This could be horrific’. She opens it and sees a brick inside. It’s such a mixture of emotions, but the main thing is: ‘Okay, she’s out there so I’m going to find her’.

“Belle’s just certain, so she speaks to Rhona and says: ‘What can we do? She’s chipped. How can we find her?’ Rhona says: ‘Nothing’s coming up on the system. We don’t know where she is. If she gets sent to the vets we’ll be alerted but there’s no way of knowing’.

“It’s actually Vinny and Gabby who end up tracking Piper down. They get in touch with the people Tom gave Piper to and explain the situation. They’re like: ‘That is your dog and we’re really sorry for what she’s been through’.”

Eden continued: “Vinny and Gabby just bring Piper back to Belle on Christmas morning. She is by her dad’s grave having a moment, then all of a sudden you just see Piper running up with a bow on.

“It was so cute and really nice, especially it being Christmas – I think it was lovely and it felt like a real treat. For Belle it’s obviously huge.”

Eden admitted that she initially had no idea that Piper – whose real-life name is Minnie – would be making a shock return to the ITV soap.

She laughed: “I didn’t know! It was only probably two or three months ago that I got told she is coming back at Christmas.

“There was a period when it was just: ‘Is she going to come back? Is she not?’ But she had to! Fans would have been in uproar.”

For more Emmerdale Christmas gossip, check out our collection of 20 spoiler pictures from the episodes.