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Sunday, 23 December 2007

Ben Freeman's Emmerdale contract not renewed

Actor faces allegations of raping a 16-year-old in Barbados

$Emmerdale\'s Ben Freeman and Victoria Hawkins$

Ben Freeman's Emmerdale contract has not been renewed.

The 26-year-old actor, who plays Scott Windsor, is currently fighting allegations of raping a 16-year-old tourist in Barbados last year.

‘The Emmerdale producers simply didn’t know when he is going to be available,' says an ITV insider.

Benn is expected to return to the Caribbean island to face trial but is hoping he'll be back on the ITV soap when everything is resolved.

‘I am focusing on the legal proceedings and look forward to talking to ITV once this is behind me,’ he tells the Daily Star.

An ITV spokesman confirmed: 'We cannot be sure of Ben's availability for work, so we cannot renew his contract. It is due to the uncertainty of the process of law and the lead times in writing a character in and out of a soap.'

Ben - who was also dropped from Soapstar Superstar - is dating Victoria Hawkins (Emmerdale's Sharon Lambert) who is standing by her man, reports The News Of The World.