Margaret Hayton was the wife of Charles Hayton and the mother to Becca and Nancy Hayton. Margaret and Charles attended Becca's wedding to Jake Dean in 2005, despite not approving entirely of their relationship. Charles later suffered a heart attack, and a second in March 2006, which proved fatal. He died with Margaret by his side.
In October 2006, Margaret discovered that Becca was engaged to student Justin Burton and Nancy was dating a tattoo artist, Foz, and strongly disapproved of their relationships. Regardless, she made no fuss as she could see that it was what Nancy and Becca wanted. In December 2006, Becca was found guilty of engaging in sexual activity with a minor, and was imprisoned. She also gave birth to her and Justin's son, Charlie (whom she believed was Jake's son). Becca was murdered by Fran Hathaway in February 2007, and Margaret returned to the village with the intention of raising Charlie. She was surprised to see Jake and Nancy together, and when they refused to let Margaret take Charlie, Margaret told Nancy that she would never be as good as Becca.
In February 2012, Margaret turned up suddenly, and expressed her disapproval about Nancy's relationship with Darren Osborne. Nancy suspected Darren of having an affair with Cindy Cunningham, and Margaret tried to convince Nancy to accompany her back to Canada after visiting Becca's grave. However, Nancy decided to remain in the village after Darren arranged a surprise Valentine's Day wedding for them, leaving Margaret to return to Canada alone.
In June 2013, Nancy was informed that Margaret had been killed in a car accident; she had swerved to avoid a cyclist and was killed instantly in a head-on collision. Nancy flew out to Canada to make arrangements for Margaret's funeral.