Episode 6140 (20th January 2012)

Plot
Laurel has not come home and Ashley tries not to lose his patience as he gets the kids ready for school, while Sandy is worried that Ashley doesn't know where his wife is. It turns out that Laurel has stayed at Nicola's, and Jimmy and Carl are curious to know if she has left Ashley. At the same time, Ashley partly blames Sandy for Laurel's departure and tells him that he will have to explain it to the children. Later, Nicola is saddened when Laurel tells her that she thinks it might be time to accept that it's over with Ashley. Nicola visits Ashley wanting to help him save his marriage, explaining that he must forgive Laurel if he doesn't want to lose his family. Meanwhile, Belle is intrigued to find Sean waiting for her at the bus stop, and he takes her to the cricket pavilion - where he has carved their names. Belle is touched, giving him a scarf, and Sean kisses her. Elsewhere, Nicola takes Ali to task over the state of Brook Cottage, Nikhil is shocked when Gennie asks him to move in and she tries to hide her hurt from his reaction, while Hazel tells Aaron of her plans and sees he too could have the travel bug.

Main cast

 * Ashley Thomas - John Middleton
 * Gabrielle Thomas - Annelise Manojlovic
 * Sandy Thomas - Freddie Jones
 * Nicola King - Nicola Wheeler
 * Laurel Thomas - Charlotte Bellamy
 * Jimmy King - Nick Miles
 * Carl King - Tom Lister
 * Gennie Walker - Sian Reese-Williams
 * Nikhil Sharma - Rik Makarem
 * Katie Sugden - Sammy Winward
 * Ali Spencer - Kelli Hollis
 * Sean Spencer - Luke Roskell
 * Edna Birch - Shirley Stelfox
 * Hazel Rhodes - Pauline Quirke
 * Aaron Livesy - Danny Miller
 * Zak Dingle - Steve Halliwell
 * Chas Dingle - Lucy Pargeter
 * Belle Dingle - Eden Taylor-Draper
 * Ruby Haswell - Alicya Eyo

Guest cast
None