BOLTON's Emmerdale star Sammy Winward and her football star fiance have split up - less than three months after the birth of their daughter.

Sammy, aged 19, was overjoyed after giving birth to her first baby, Mia, in June.

But the actress and Birmingham City and former Blackburb Rovers star David Dunn have now decided to end their three-year romance by mutual consent.

Sammy, who plays heartbreaker Katie Sugden in the ITV soap, is on maternity leave from the show after giving birth at her mother's home in Edgworth.

Her mother, Jane Winward, said Sammy was focusing her attention on Mia after the amicable split.

She said: "Sammy is fine but I don't really want to talk about it at the moment.

"However, she and Mia are both absoutely fine."

Only last week, the former Turton high School pupil was the guest at an event for a Bolton charity which offers a helping hand to families with young children.

The break-up is believed to have happened within days of David's grandmother Alice dying from lung cancer at the age of 68.

David, aged 25, who comes from Great Harwood, joined Birmingham in a £3.5 million move from Blackburn Rovers in 2003.

His grandfather, also called David, aged 67, said the England international was trying to overcome a "very difficult period".

He said: "The split-up has come at a bad time for David with his grandmother dying suddenly. We didn't know she had cancer. She was rushed to hospital a few weeks ago, the diagnosis was made and she died soon after.

"David is very vulnerable at the moment. He has had a very tough time of it. He has been injured for quite some time and is trying to get himself fit and back playing football."

A spokesman for Emmerdale said: "It is a mutual decision and there is no one else involved. Sammy and David will remain friends and their primary concern will continue to be their daughter Mia."