Laurel Thomas (also Potts and Dingle) is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale, played by Charlotte Bellamy. She debuted on screen during the episode airing on 3 September 2002. Laurel has been off-screen at various times while Bellamy has taken maternity leave. Laurel is shown to have a thoughtful and caring attitude towards other characters, however, this changed dramatically in 2015 when she developed an addiction to alcohol which often caused her to become violent and aggressive.

Her storylines have included her first and second marriages to Ashley Thomas (John Middleton), the highly publicised cot death storyline in which Laurel and Ashley's adoptive baby son dies but it transpires that their biological baby is still alive as he was accidentally swapped with another baby at the hospital, mentally unstable Sally Spode (Siân Reeves) trying to murder Laurel on numerous occasions, discovering Ashley's abuse of his elderly widower father Sandy (Freddie Jones), her relationship and marriage to Marlon Dingle (Mark Charnock), being carjacked by Ross Barton (Michael Parr) and becoming obsessed with getting her revenge on him, sliding into alcoholism when she begins to struggle with life, a reunion with Ashley, coping with Ashley's vascular dementia, going into premature labour which resulted in the birth of her and Ashley's daughter, Dotty, coming to terms with Ashley's death, her friendship with fellow widow Emma Barton (Gillian Kearney), which later turns bitter when she becomes obsessed with proving that Emma murdered her husband, James (Bill Ward); an affair with Bob Hope (Tony Audenshaw), her marriage to Jai Sharma and deciding to terminate their pregnancy after discovering that the baby has Down syndrome.

In 2004, Bellamy announced she was pregnant with her first child. Laurel was briefly written out while she took maternity leave. Bellamy did not have to hide her pregnancy while filming. In 2006, Bellamy announced her second pregnancy and took maternity leave in 2007. Her pregnancy was written into Laurel's storylines. In 2009, Bellamy announced her final pregnancy to date, which saw Laurel written out of the serial again for a number of months. On an episode which aired on 20 December 2016 she was temporarily recast in an episode from the viewpoint of dementia patient Ashley Thomas (John Middleton).

Lovely Laurel is not your typical vicar's wife but is very supportive of her husband Ashley. She's well known in the village for her quirky fashion sense. She's very determined and even though a lot of bad things have happened to her she still remains a happy, positive woman who enjoys hanging out with her mates, especially Nicola.

— itv.com on Laurel.

Bellamy said Laurel is not your "typical vicar's wife" because she acts "a bit daft and scatty". Bellamy said the best thing about Laurel is her drunken scenes. As Laurel is married to a vicar, she has to always be seen to act "nice, sweet and kind". There are no limits to Laurel when she drinks and "she really lets her hair down." Laurel's best friend is Nicola Blackstock (Nicola Wheeler). Bellamy said she is "a bit horrible to her" but Laurel really loves her.

While interviewed by the Sunday Mail, Bellamy said Laurel's likeability is her "kind-hearted and unassuming" persona. However, Laurel is not afraid to speak her mind but would never "intentionally hurt someone". Laurel is often the serial's source for light comic relief. Bellamy opined that it played an important role in Emmerdale's success. Laurel has many different elements. She is funny and makes people laugh. Having an "emotional soul" means she has the capacity to be very loving. These personality traits have made the role enjoyable for Bellamy to portray. Bellamy later said "Laurel's a simple soul with a good heart and she deserves to be really happy."

"They are the mismatched couple who have raised many of Emmerdale's laughs as viewers have followed their rocky road to romance."