Charles Hayton was the husband of Margaret Hayton and the father of Becca and Nancy Hayton. A retired army major with a secret gambling habit, Charles accumulated a fortune and privately educated his children. Becca moved to Hollyoaks in September 2001 to become a teacher, with tearaway Nancy also preferring village life in July 2005.
Later that month, Becca invited Charles and Margaret to meet her fiancée Jake Dean, with whom she had recently reconciled with after Jake's affair with Lisa Hunter. When Charles first met Jake, he was in gardening clothes. Jake, assuming that he was the Haytons' gardener, proceeded to tell him all about how humourless and stuck up Becca's father was. His mother, Frankie Osborne, her son Craig Dean, and her daughter Steph Dean dropped in for an unplanned visit, and a drunken Frankie told the Haytons all about Jake's affair and his giving an STI to Becca. The families also clashed over wedding preparations and cost. In spite of this turmoil, Charles and Margaret attended Becca's wedding and wished her well.
Charles suffered a heart attack in early 2006 and Becca went to visit him during his recuperation. During another visit a few months later, she was in the midst of an affair with Justin Burton and wasn't with Charles when he suddenly suffered a second heart attack, which proved to be fatal.