A CONTRACTOR has revealed the behind-the-scenes secrets of the creation of the new Coronation Street set.

Bolton-based firm Seddon was employed to carry out the construction of the new section of the hit soap's home.

The company, which has its headquarters in Plodder Lane, started work on the project in July 2017 and a team of 50 completed the extension of the fictional Manchester suburb of Weatherfield in eight months.

The construction included a tram stop and a community garden.

Michael Sharkey, operations manager at Seddon, said: "This was a fantastic project to work on, expanding the iconic set of one of the UK’s best-loved soaps and the pride of the North West.

"The team worked hard in a live filming environment to bring Victoria Street to life and we can’t wait to see what it looks like from our TV screens."

As part of the work, 7,000 cobbles were reclaimed from the original Coronation Street set to pave Victoria Street, the latest addition to the fictional Manchester suburb of Weatherfield,

To extend the set, a total of 200,000 bricks and brick slips were laid, with 2,500 tonnes of cast stone, 6,500 tonnes of concrete and 350 tonnes of tarmac holding the extension together.

Working a total of 97,570 man hours on site on 4,550m2 of scaffolding, the team completed the build alongside live filming at the adjacent original set and downed tools whenever the camera was rolling.

The total time stopped for filming amounted to seven days.

The new set was seen for the first time on the ITV show during last night's episode.

As well as the tram stop and the garden, the new set includes Weatherfield Police Station, a Costa Coffee, a new curry house and a tattoo shop.

And the community garden contains a specially-commissioned memorial bench paying tribute to the people who lost their lives in the Manchester Arena Bombing in May, including Corrie superfan Martyn Hett.