Carol Nelson

Carol Nelson arrived in Beckindale in 1991 as a new barmaid for The Woolpack. Carol had previously been a barmaid at the King of Prussia pub in Robblesfield for six years. Carol would be joined by her daughter Lorraine eight months later.
Carol enjoyed nothing more than a good gossip and from her position behind the bar, was able to find out all manner of information about her neighbours. However, Carol's habit of poking her nose into other people's business had negative consequences for her when she wrongly accused Nick Bates and Archie Brooks of neglecting Nick's daughter, Alice, and made an anonymous tip off to social services. When Carol's boss, Alan Turner, who also happened to be the child's Godfather, found out what she'd done, he sacked her from the Woolpack.
Ironically, it was Carol herself who could have used some outside support. It was around this time that Lorraine's bad behaviour was causing Carol serious concern, and the pair had a huge falling out over Lorraine continuing to work at the Woolpack following Carol's dismissal. Lorraine ran away from home, sleeping rough for a while before eventually turing up on Lynn Whiteley's doorstep. After much coaxing, Lorraine admitted to Lynn that she'd been sexually abused by her Father as a child, and was speaking out now as his new girlfriend had a young daughter. Lynn took Lorraine to the police to report the abuse and she and the police tried to convince Lorraine to speak to Carol. However, Lorraine refused, saying that her Mother would never believe her. Lorraine was initially proved right, but Carol soon came to see that her daughter was telling the truth and the pair began to slowly rebuild their relationship. Meanwhile, having heard of Carol's plight, Alan reinstated her behind the bar.
Lorraine moved back in with Carol in early 1993 but Lorraine soon ran into trouble again when she was informed that the CPS did not believe that they had enough evidence to prosecute her father. Lorraine began skipping school and stealing money from Carol's purse and although Carol suspected that her daughter was behind the thefts, she was unable to prove it. Carol began attending a support group for Mother's of abused children and although Lorraine was initially angry about this, she eventually agreed to have some counselling herself. 
By the end of 1993, there was conflict behind the Woolpack bar as Alan began a relationship with former prostitute, Shirley Foster. Shirley picked up the occasional shift behind the bar and Carol had to be warned on more than one occasion about her attitude towards Shirley. Meanwhile, after achieving two 'A' grades in her GCSEs, Lorraine took up a place at Skipdale college. Although pleased for her daughter, Carol was also exasperated at the amount of time Lorraine was spending in the town, not to mention to cost of transport back and forth from Beckindale. Alan used his contacts to secure Carol a live-in job at a pub closer to her daughter's place of study. 
Some months after leaving Beckindale, it became apparent that Carol had not completely given up her doubts about Nick's suitability to care for Alice. By this point, Nick was preparing to fight Alice's Mother, Elsa, for custody of the child. Elsa's solicitor brought up Carol's report to social services and informed Nick that Carol was willing testify against him in court. 
==Notable dialogue==
*First line: "Mr Turner? I'm Carol Nelson, your four-thirty appointment." (Episode 1595)
*Last line: "And this is a £10 telephone card from Mr. Turner!" (Episode 1820)
==See also==
*Full list of appearances
Category:Emmerdale characters
Category:1991 debuts
Category:1993 departures
Category:Barmaids
Category:Hairdressers