Lucy Pargeter fears for Emmerdale character Chas after she loses Woolpack

Lucy Pargeter fears her 'Emmerdale' character Chas Dingle could be killed off after losing the Woolpack pub.

The 44-year-old star admitted her "heart sank" when she found out Chas would no longer be in charge of the fictional boozer, and the news made her feel "even more insecure" about her job.

She said: "It’s bizarre. It’s fictional, I don’t really own a pub, but that bar is like my second home and when I found out I no longer owned it, my heart sank.

It was upsetting and unsettling, not only for my character, but for me too.

"I wondered, ‘Well, what’s my role in the village now? What else can I do?’

"It was gutting and made me feel even more insecure about my job."

Former 'I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!' star Lucy - who has played Chas for 20 years - constantly worries if she is "good enough" to be a part of the cast.

She said: "Every year I wonder if I’m still good enough to be on the show. And it’s not just when my contract is up for renewal – I worry through the year.

"If there’s a serial killer on the loose, you think, ‘Is it my time to go?’ "

And those fears increase when there is a major milestone coming up for the soap, like the show's 50th birthday this October.

She added to the Daily Mirror newspaper: “It’s always unnerving when we’ve got big storylines coming up, or events like the 50th anniversary this year.

“I immediately think, ‘Oh God, they’re going to have to do something big for the 50th. Do they need to kill off a long-standing character in a spectacular way? Is that my exit?' "

Lucy previously revealed her Dales co-star Dominic Brunt (Paddy Kirk) is her "sounding board".

She said: "Dom is my sounding board. When we get on set he has me battering his ears for about half an hour with what I've had to go through before I've come into work.

"He's like that, 'Oh, oh, oh.' "