Todd Grimshaw (Bruno Langley) will kiss Nick Tilsley

Todd Grimshaw, played by Bruno Langley, 20, will kiss his girlfriend's brother Nick Tilsley, played by Adam Rickett, 25.

"Todd has been questioning his sexuality for some time," said a Coronation Street spokeswoman.

"He makes a pass at Nick and leans forward to kiss him but it's not reciprocated. This is going to cause a number of problems for his girlfriend, Sarah," she said.

The episode will be shown on 5 October.

Bet's return

The spokeswoman said the episode was expected to cause controversy, but said it was not meant to cause an uproar.

"This is not a case of saying we need to introduce a gay character," she said. "The storyline came naturally out of the character. It is being handled extremely sensitively."

The soap has recently announced it will reintroduce some of the more popular characters from its past.

Julie Goodyear, who played popular character Bet Gilroy in ITV soap Coronation Street, is returning to the show for a second time later this year.

Goodyear will be joined Bev Callard and Charlie Lawson (Liz and Jim McDonald), who are also coming back in a separate storyline.