Vara Lucky

Meeks played the character Simon Meredith in Emmerdale between 2003 and 2006.

He also starred in the teen TV drama series Byker Grove as Greg, the leader of a gang from rival youth club Denton Burn. The show launched the careers of a host of stars, including presenting duo Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly.

News of Meeks’s death was broken by a family member on Facebook on Sunday afternoon.

The post read: “So unbelievably sad. Brother-in-law, mucca, side kick and just the BEST friend a lad could have wished for. RIP Dale Meeks. So much less to laugh about now you’re not there to share it with.”

It continued: “Thanks everyone for all the beautiful messages and memories you have been sharing. The support of Dale’s friends has been so incredibly strong over these chaotic, heartbreaking final hours, I can only stand in awe.”

A cause of death has not been confirmed.

McPartlin and Donnelly paid tribute to Meeks on Twitter as the “loveliest of guys”. “We are so incredibly sorry to hear the very sad news of Dale’s passing,” they wrote. “He was the loveliest of guys, even though he was a Denton ‘Burner’, the arch nemesis of the Byker ‘Grovers’! A sad loss at such a young age. RIP Dale. Sleep well bonny lad.”

Just last week Meeks was on ITV in The Hunt for Raoul Moat, playing Moat’s friend Rory Sutcliffe.

The actor had retweeted posts about the three-part drama on the true story of the UK’s biggest manhunt, which unfolded after Moat went on a shooting rampage in July 2010.

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