Emmerdale actor Ben Freeman has been allowed to leave Barbados until the new year after magistrates increased his bail from £5,000 to £25,000.

Ben has been charged with rape after an incident involving a 16 year old girl at the Almond Beach Resort last week and appeared in front of magistrates in Bridgetown on Tuesday.

Ben was accompanied to court by his father Paul and stepmother Suzanne, and told reporters that he was “feeling fine” but did not speak in court.

The magistrates agreed to his solicitor Desmond Sands’ requests that Ben’s previously seized passport should be returned and that Ben be allowed to leave the island to return to his work on the soap.

Ben is required to return to the island on 15th March next year when magistrates will hear from witnesses and decide whether the case should go forward to a trial. Sands’ insists that Ben will deny unlawful sex.