James Hooton leads Paula Tilbrook tributes

James Hooton has led tributes to \'Emmerdale\' legend Paula Tilbrook.

The actress - who starred as village gossip Betty Eagleton on the ITV soap for 21 years, until retiring in 2015 - has passed away aged 89, and James (Sam Dingle) admitted the late star was a "strong personality" to have around.

He tweeted: "She was a Strong personality to have around the building and had a great career! RIP x (sic)"

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Tom Lister - who played Emmerdale\'s Carl King from 2004 to 2012 - wrote: "Oh Paula. How I lived working with you. We had some great fun."

Former \'Emmerdale\' series producer Kathleen Beedles also paid tribute to Paula, praising her as a "wonderful and lovely person".

She wrote: "When I ran @emmerdale if any character was making it impossible to schedule I\'d have to approve the script changes. More often than not, the character breaking the schedule was Betty. Why? Because we loved her and loved Paula, and she was in so much of the show. She could cross any story or character & hold her own.

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"In the online extension for Tom King, my favourite extra content was Betty leaving a gossipy voicemail, done with the aplomb of a monologue at The National. On screen prowess aside, Paula Tilbrook was also a wonderful and lovely person. RIP. (sic)"

\'Emmerdale\' have also praised Paula, admitting she was a "great talent and a wonderful friend".

A statement from the soap read: "We are saddened to hear of the passing of our much loved colleague, Paula Tilbrook.

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"Paula was at the heart of \'Emmerdale\' for many years and she will be greatly missed by all who worked with her and by the fans of her character, Betty.

"We have lost a great talent and a wonderful friend, but she will forever live in the memories of those lucky enough to have known her."

Paula\'s loveable character Betty enjoyed sipping on a sherry and gossiping about village life.

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She was also known for her relationship with Seth Armstrong, who was played by Stan Richards, who passed away in 2005 aged 74.