Emmerdale fans have been left in a stir over a recent image that seems to confirm another character death will hit the soap opera this Christmas.

Fresh theories have come out of a tour of the Emmerdale set, where one attendee snapped a photo of a freshly dug grave in the village cemetery and promptly shared it to a fan Facebook group (via Metro).

Of course, we can’t be sure exactly who the resting place belongs to, but some have noted its position next to the grave of Val Pollard (Charlie Hardwick) as evidence that it could be her former husband Eric (Chris Chittell) who is in danger of a tragic exit.

That said, he is not the only candidate in the line of fire, with several other Emmerdale cast members departing in the coming weeks, including Lesley Dunlop (Eric’s fiancé Brenda), James Chase (Tom King) and Daisy Campbell (Amelia Spencer).

A demise for Eric or Brenda would be particularly hard-hitting, given the couple’s plans to wed this Christmas.

ITV declined to comment on the speculation when approached by RadioTimes.com.

Another outgoing character who is thought to be living on borrowed time is Leyla Harding (played by Roxy Shahidi), with The Sun recently reporting that she would be going out in “a blaze of glory”.

An unnamed source told the tabloid last month: “Roxy has adored her time on the soap and has made so many happy memories since first joining when she was just 17.

“The cast have become like family to her, and she has grown so much as an actress. But now, she feels it’s the perfect time to spread her wings and try something new.

“She is really excited about her meaty exit storyline, which will see her character, Leyla, die on screen. She’d rather go out in a blaze of glory and be remembered.”

Emmerdale airs weeknights on ITV1. Stream on ITVX.

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