A full house greeted a popular soap star as he swapped the Dales for an evening of bingo in Lowestoft.

Mark Charnock, who plays Marlon Dingle, on ITV1's Emmerdale visited Beacon Bingo on Battery Green Road on Saturday.

The 49-year-old actor took time out from his busy filming schedule to spend a couple of hours with fans, as he greeted guests, signed autographs, posed for selfies with the audience and even tried his hand at calling the numbers.

And it proved to be a memorable occasion for the actor, who first appeared in the soap in 1996, as he revealed that his grandfather used to be a bingo caller.

Prior to calling out the Blue Flyer game, he addressed bingo players and said: 'Hello Lowestoft. It's my favourite county, I go to Southwold most years and although it's a different place, I love Suffolk, so its really nice to be here.

'But be careful, there are Dingles lingering about – so just keep your hands on your wallets.'

He added: 'My grandad used to do this so I am really excited. I'm really going to get involved.'

The first numbers called out by Mr Charnock were 'four and six, 46,' followed by 'on its own, number seven' and 'knock on the door, number four.'

Speaking after the visit, Mr Charnock said: 'Saturday night's atmosphere was great and I loved meeting the Beacon Bingo customers who were in high spirits!

'It was also such good fun calling out the bingo numbers – definitely one of the high points of the night.'

Gary Holmes, Beacon Bingo Lowestoft general manager, said: 'It was great to have Mark visit and meet our staff and customers. Everyone was incredibly excited about meeting him.

'The event was a huge success and we were delighted to see both regular and new customers having such a good time.'

And Mr Charnock's visit to Lowestoft at the weekend followed on from other soap star visits around the country.

Jeff Hordley – who plays Cain Dingle in Emmerdale – visited Beacon Bingo in Ilkeston in February while Eastenders hardman Phil Mitchell – Steve McFadden – called the numbers at Beacon Northampton in April and Beacon Margate in May.