Shila Iqbal has been fired from Emmerdale over historic offensive tweets, the soap has confirmed.

The actress, who played Aiesha Richards on the show, was only made a series regular at the end of March.

It is understood she was 19 when the tweets in question were posted in 2013.

Shila Iqbal said in a statement that she was “terribly sorry”, adding that her language had been “inappropriate”.

She said: “I am terribly sorry and take full responsibility for my use of such inappropriate language.

“I have paid the price and can no longer continue the job I loved the most at Emmerdale.

“Although I was young when I made the tweets, it was still completely wrong of me to do so and I sincerely apologise.”

A spokeswoman for the soap said: "As a consequence of historic social media posts Shila Iqbal has left her role as Aiesha Richards on Emmerdale.

"The programme took the decision not to renew her contract as soon as these posts were brought to the company's attention."

Iqbal has also appeared in Lala's Ladies, Citizen Khan and the film Eaten By Lions.

It has yet to be confirmed what was said in the messages, and the 24-year-old has deleted her Twitter account.

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