Exclusive – Emmerdale's Charity Dingle tops poll to be crowned best soap pub landlord of all time

With Coronation Street, Emmerdale and EastEnders character's all thrown in, there were plenty of options to choose from.

With pubs having reopened their beer gardens in the UK, now seems like the perfect time to reveal the winner of RadioTimes.com's poll.

Taking the top spot with a massive 30 per cent of the vote is Emmerdale's Charity Dingle (Emma Atkins) who had been behind the bar of The Woolpack since 2016 – only recently handing over ownership to Chas and Marlon Dingle (Lucy Pargeter and Mark Charnock).

Charity beat her nearest rival by quite some way with second place falling to Peggy Mitchell with Barbara Windsor's iconic character getting 13 per cent of the vote.

"This came as a real surprise!" Atkins said. "Thank you so much to the Radio Times readers for voting for me. I feel humbled and delighted. I can’t wait to ring my mum. She will be excited to hear the news.

"I love my job so much and feel proud of my time behind the Woolpack bar. So this means the world to me."

The top 10 were as follows:

1. Charity Dingle (Emmerdale) - 30 per cent
2. Peggy Mitchell (EastEnders) - 13 per cent
3. Bet Lynch (Coronation Street) - eight per cent
4. Den and Angie Watts (EastEnders) - eight per cent
5. Jack and Vera Duckworth (Coronation Street) - six per cent
6. Mick and Linda Carter (EastEnders) - six per cent
7. Annie Walker (Coronation Street) - five per cent
8. Alfie Moon (EastEnders) - five per cent
9. Liz McDonald (Coronation Street) - three per cent
10. Amos Brearly & Henry Wilks (Emmerdale) - three per cent

So while Coronation Street had more entries on the list with four apiece, it is Emmerdale that claims the top spot – and two of its original characters also just made it onto the list in 10th place.

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