CORONATION Street’s Rita Sullivan heroically stops an out-of-control coach on a disaster trip to Blackpool.
In pictures from upcoming scenes, the veteran character, played by Barbara Cox, is seen slumped over the wheel as Sean Tully rushes to get help from an ambulance – presumably for the driver.
Moments before Rita is seen trying to stop the coach as the panicked passengers, including Mary, hold on tight.
It is unclear what happened to the original driver of the bus or indeed why the group are all on a trip to Blackpool.
Meanwhile the character – who is the soap’s second longest-serving one – is set for more drama over Christmas.
She will fall while putting up fairy lights and ends up getting trapped for several days under her Christmas tree.
Because she has told other Street residents she plans to go away for Christmas, nobody investigates when they see her home in darkness. Rita, played by Barbara Knox — who became a cast regular in 1972 — only escapes after being found by chance by a neighbour.
In a later scene she tells her Weatherfield pals she had “thought she was a goner” after the freak fall.
An ITV source said: “Dev puts up the Christmas tree for Rita but doesn’t have time to sort the fairy lights.
“She ends up putting the lights on herself but when switching them on she trips and falls, pulling the tree on top of her.”
Soap bosses hope the storyline will shine a light on the loneliness that can be suffered by the elderly in the festive period.
The source added: “Spending Christmas alone is a scenario many OAPs may find themselves in a few weeks.”
