Ashley shattered by Maxine's affair

Coronation Street butcher Ashley Peacock is to discover that his wife Maxine spent a night of passion with Dr Matt Ramsden in a series of nail-biting episodes.

In a series of dramatic scenes over Easter, Ashley will be left shattered when the doctor tells him about his one-night stand with Maxine in September.

The pressure becomes too much for Maxine (Tracy Shaw) and she goes into labour two months early.

In the ambulance dash to hospital, she pleads with Ashley (Steven Arnold) to forgive her.

The storyline is the beginning of the end for Matt (Stephen Beckett) and his wife Charlie (Clare McGlinn). The couple leave the show in May.

Beckett said: "People keep shouting out to me in the street 'Who's the daddy?'

"The truth is I don't know myself. I will be sorry to leave Corrie, there's a nice bunch of people here - a really great team."

But he revealed: "After he picks himself up off the floor, Ashley says he will raise the baby regardless of who the father is.

"He tells Maxine he will bring it up as his own."

McGlinn also has new projects ready for when she leaves the ITV soap, including a sitcom.