Coronation Street star Bill Roache today appeared in court charged with raping an underage girl twice in the 1960s.
The actor, who plays Ken Barlow in the long-running soap, stood in the dock with his hands clasped behind his back during the seven-minute hearing.
The 81-year-old only spoke to confirm his name, address and date of birth before the charges - two counts of rape against a 15-year-old girl - were read out.
He was bailed and will next appear before Preston Crown Court on June 10.
As the veteran actor left the court he refused to answer questions and accompanied by security men, was led into a waiting car.
Roache, who was awarded an MBE in 2001, was arrested by police on the morning of May 1 and questioned while officers searched his home in Wilmslow, Cheshire. He was charged that evening.
In a statement the following day, he proclaimed his innocence and vehemently denied the allegations.
He said he was “astounded and deeply horrified” by the charges adding he “strenuously” denied them and would fight to prove his innocence.
Lancashire Police say the alleged assaults against the underage girl took place between April and July 1967, seven years after he began working on Coronation Street.
He was married to his first wife Anna at the time.
Roache, who has starred in Coronation Street since its first episode aired over 50 years ago, has been temporarily written out of the soap while investigations continue.
