Lin has joined the cast of Emmerdale as Georgia Sharma (Picture: ITV)

EastEnders fans have voiced their upset that legendary actress Lin Blakely won’t be returning to their favourite soap anytime soon after news broke that she was joining Emmerdale.

The star, who played the lovely Pam Coker in the BBC One soap, will take over from The Bill legend Trudie Goodwin as Jai Sharma’s mother Georgia in Emmerdale, making her debut in the coming weeks.

Jai, played by Chris Bisson, is currently at the centre of a big storyline in the ITV soap, having discovered that he was adopted by Rishi (Bhasker Patel), who he thought to be his biological dad.

The businessman wants answers, which he will likely get when mum Georgia rocks up in the eponymous village just in time for his wedding to Laurel Thomas (Charlotte Bellamy).

But while everyone is delighted to see the incredible Lin back on their screens, EastEnders fans are concerned that the star’s appearance in Emmerdale may mean we won’t be seeing her back in Walford any time soon.

‘Proper gutted about Lin Blakey (Pam) joining Emmerdale as she needs to get back to Walford tbh!,’ tweeted one fan.

‘Right why is pam coker joining emmerdale, ben and jay need u darling,’added another, referring to Ben Mitchell and Jay Brown’s struggle in the wake of Lola Pearce’s death.

‘Give us back PAM,’ exclaimed another in reply to Emmerdale’s tweet, which shared the news of Lin’s casting.

Pam appeared in EastEnders as a regular character between 2014 and 2016 before the character was controversially and, quite bafflingly, axed.

Lin is best known for playing Pam Coker in EastEnders (Picture: BBC)

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She’s made a number of sporadic appearances in the years that followed, with surprise stints in 2017, 2018 and 2019, with her latest to date coming just last year.

Fans have long been calling for Pam to be reinstated as a regular, and we couldn’t agree more.

EastEnders airs Mondays to Thursdays at 7:30pm on BBC One.

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EastEnders have been left fearing the worst in the wake of Emmerdale’s latest casting news.