Becky set to leave Corrie

ACTRESS Katherine Kelly, who plays Becky McDonald, is to leave Coronation Street at the end of this year, ITV has announced.

Her character will remain on screen until early 2012 and will depart in an “explosive” storyline to begin next month.

ITV said: “Viewers will see Becky go into meltdown when social services start investigating her ‘purchase’ of her sister’s son Max.

Kelly, who joined the show in February 2006, said: “It’s been one of the hardest decisions of my life. I love Coronation Street. I have had the most blissful five years, I wouldn’t change one moment of it — but it feels like the time is right to say goodbye to Becky.”