<P> John Middleton (born 7 September 1953 in Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire) is an English actor well known for his part in ITV's Emmerdale as Ashley Thomas, a role which he remained in from 1996 to 2017 for 20 years . </P> <P> He has appeared in many other TV programmes, most notably in 1993 as John Hargreaves in Coronation Street, the man who knocked down and killed Lisa Duckworth . A year later he appeared again in Coronation Street, this time as a hospital consultant, when Deirdre Barlow's former husband Samir Rachid was beaten up and killed by a gang of thugs . </P> <P> His first Emmerdale role was that of PC John Jarvis at the time of the Post Office raid in 1994, before landing the role of Vicar Ashley Thomas in December 1996 . In October 2015, when a new storyline was revealed on - screen for Ashley, it was also announced Middleton would be leaving his role as Ashley after 20 years . Middleton's contract ended in March 2017 and Ashley departed on 7 April 2017 . </P> <P> ITV have released a promo for a set of episode from Monday 3rd April through to Friday 7th April titled "It's Time To Say Goodbye". It features many pictures of Ashley and his Family and Friends . Ashley slowly starts fading away from the photos . </P>

Who plays the part of the vicar in emmerdale
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