Roy Cropper's fierce mum joins Corrie

Julie Hesmondhalgh, who plays Hayley Cropper in Coronation Street, has revealed more about the upcoming storyline of Roy's mum joining Corrie.

Julie told Holy Soap: "There's a cat amongst the pigeon once again - just when you get a bit of peace and quiet and normality back, Roy's mum comes into the equation and she's quite fierce."

The soap star admitted shy, eager-to-please Hayley is no match for her mother-in-law, played by Stephanie Cole.

She laughed: "Oh no! I don't think so. She's trying to build the bridges in her usual well-meaning way, between mother and son and I don't think either of them particularly welcome it. I think it's going to be really good fun. We're always at our best when they throw a random third party into our relationship. We've had a few of those and it's always great. It keeps it fresh for us as well."