An EastEnders character is returning to the soap after 30 years.

Debbie Bates, played by Nicola Duffett, will reappear in a special episode as part of a dementia storyline centred around her husband Nigel Bates, portrayed by Paul Bradley.

The episode will take Nigel, who has recently returned to Walford after 26 years, back to the 1990s as his dementia symptoms worsen.

Debbie last appeared in the BBC soap in 1995 when she was killed in a hit-and-run.

She first appeared in Walford in 1993 before becoming a love interest for Nigel Bates after meeting him at his birthday party.

The couple married in July 1994.

After her death, police told Nigel that she had walked out into a road and someone had hit........

© South Wales Argus