Emmerdale fans thrilled to spot nod to the past as Eric returns to his villainous ways

Emmerdale fans were over the moon to see Eric Pollard (Chris Chittell) back to his old scheming ways as he continued to swindle Kerry Wyatt (Laura Norton) during last night's episode (Thursday, April 18).

This week, Eric swooped in to rescue Amy Wyatt (Natalie Ann Jamieson) and Matty Barton (Ash Palmisciano) by paying for their wedding day when Kerry could no longer afford it. Kerry was planning to pay for her daughter's big day with funds from a stolen necklace, but when Eric suggested she go to a pawnbroker to get it valued, she was told that the necklace wasn't worth the fortune she thought it was.

It soon transpired that Eric had set Kerry up with a pawnbroker he was secretly working with and the pair kept the money from her stolen necklace themselves.

In last night's episode, Kerry had practically been disowned by Amy and her son-in-law Matty, who kicked her out of the house.

Kerry's downfall continued when Eric insisted that she would be paying him back the £10,000 he spent on the wedding. Kerry was in disbelief and admitted that she thought the payment was a gift to the couple, but Eric laughed in her face and said that his wedding gift was a soup maker.

Kerry desperately explained that she had absolutely no money left after all the down payments for the wedding and now having to pay for a B&B.

However, Eric wasn't interested in her financial situation and suggested a payment plan to pay off her debt.

Later on, he turned up at The Woolpack when Kerry was working and asked her to sign a contract where she was given two years to pay back the loan, plus 9% interest. Kerry begged that she didn't have the money as Eric snapped that it wasn't his problem. 

Eric then targeted Victoria Sugden (Isabel Hodgins) after she broke up with his grandson Jacob Gallagher (Joe Warren-Plant).

After seeing how heartbroken Jacob was, he harshly insulted Victoria and blamed her for forcing his son David Metcalfe (Matthew Wolfenden) out of the village. However, his villainous streak didn't stop there as Eric then decided to exact his revenge on Victoria by blackmailing her boss Jai Sharma (Chris Bisson).

When Jai came into the shop, he demanded he fire Victoria as head chef at the Hide because she was "intent on destroying" Eric's family's happiness.

Jai laughed at his suggestion, but Eric threatened to tell Suni Sharma (Brahmdeo Shannon Ramana) all about how Jai ran their father Amit out of the village and was stealing his inheritance.

Fans were glad to see Eric back to his swindling ways and were reminded of his conman past... 

Emmerdale continues tonight at 7:30pm on ITV1.