Coronation Street actor Andy Whyment has said that he is hopeful the soap can avoid going off air in July.

Filming of new episodes stopped in late March due to coronavirus, but ITV has rationed the number broadcast per week and is believed to still have 20 left to air.

The last of those is scheduled to air on Friday, July 3, although with filming expected to resume on June 1, there is a small chance that the soap could get away with just a small break, or even none at all, from the ITV schedules.

"We have enough episodes in the can until early July, so hopefully we won't have to go off air," Whyment - aka Kirk Sutherland - told the Daily Star.

"They've been rewriting all the scripts and [coronavirus] has been such a massive part of everyone's lives, so the show will probably reflect that.

"We won't be able to do big group scenes, like where everyone is in the Rovers, and if pubs haven't reopened by then, we won't be able to do any scenes in the Rovers at all."

Yesterday Corrie legend Bill Roache, who has played Ken Barlow for 60 years, said that he fears older characters will be absent from the soap "for some time".