Emmerdale has been flooded with Ofcom complaints after Piper was killed by evil Tom King. Fans of the ITV soap were left fuming over the recent scenes, which saw Tom King (James Chase) run over Belle Dingle's pet dog Piper in a bid to exert control over his estranged wife. Viewers took to social media to fume over the scenes and many have said they have switched the soap off, or stopped watching all together, over the big scenes.
Emmerdale received 183 complaints for their episode on August 16th, which featured scenes where Tom ran Piper over in a bid to reconnect with Belle. Elsewhere, the soap received another 99 complaints for its episode on Monday August 19th where Tom told Belle that the dog had been hit. He later hinted he was responsible for the death.
Speaking about the scenes, James said: "Tom is well aware of the control he can exert by using his dog in his abuse of Belle. This deliberate act, although horrifying, is Tom’s way of getting back in Belle’s life. He knows her reaction to Piper being injured will mean he can then be the one to comfort her and get close to her again.
It’s a desperate act, but Tom is clutching at anything at this time. Emme rdale Producer Laura Shaw added of the storyline: "Working with the charities and hearing first hand stories from domestic abuse survivors it's clearly all too common that domestic abusers will use the family pet as a weapon. In upcoming scenes Viewers will see Tom go to desperate measures to try and keep control .