Bernard Cribbins was recently seen in Dalziel & Pascoe

Cribbins, a veteran of the Carry On films, Fawlty Towers and The Railway Children, is filming scenes as a scheming septuagenarian called Wally Bannister.

His character, an apparently wealthy widower meets Blanche Hunt (Maggie Jones) at a dance.

However, he is soon dividing his time between Blanche and her grand-daughter Tracy Barlow (Kate Ford), who sees him as a 'sugar daddy' after breaking up with businessman Dev Alehan.

"I was delighted to be asked to join the cast of Coronation Street and have been a fan of the show since I first watched it with my mother," Cribbins said.

"It's also a great opportunity to put to use my native north country accent."

Cribbins' most recent appearance on TV was last year on police drama Dalziel & Pascoe.

'Classic humour'

"Bernard will be on the show for a month and we are really pleased to be working with him," said a Granada spokeswoman.

"The scenes between Blanche, Wally and Tracy will recreate the classic Coronation Street humour. It's a great comedy storyline for Bernard."

His scenes will be seen on screen early next month.

Cribbins' film roles include Two Way Stretch and The Wrong Arm Of The Law with Peter Sellers as well as the Carry On series.

Coronation Street has received a huge boost in ratings recently, after some dramatic storylines, including the murder of Tracey Shaw's character Maxine by villain Richard Hillman.

It also took the best soap opera prize at Sunday's Bafta TV awards.