Coronation Street star QUITS in huge new blow for ITV bosses

Earlier this week it was claimed Alex Bain was walking away from playing Simon Barlow after 15 years in the role.

It means ITV bosses will now shortly be without two fan-favourite characters.

Meanwhile, Chris Gascoyne, who played Peter Barlow, bowed out from the soap in an emotional final episode earlier this month.

"She feels now is the right time to move on and take on new challenges," a source told The Sun.

"Lisa has been on Corrie for a long time and she’s had some great storylines.

"She’s become a firm fan favourite with her comedy scenes but has had viewers sobbing in heartbreaking plots like Sinead’s death."

An insider told the the Sun that her exit would be "as dramatic as she is."

Lisa George first made her debut in Coronation Street in 2011 as Sinead's auntie and later went on to marry Kirk Sutherland and welcome grandson Bertie.

Over the years she has become a firm favourite among fans, with plot lines she's been involved in including the loss of her niece to terminal cancer.

it comes just months after the actor admitted that she had been offered a new contract by ITV.

She told the Mirror: "I've got a new contract. It's really weird, everyone was saying you're leaving, you're leaving.

"I was asked about my contract and I said I was waiting, and so they asked what I'd like to do if I didn't get one and I said Call The Midwife. That's all I said it was a passing comment then the next thing, everyone is ringing me like, 'you're leaving, you're leaving'.

"I was like no, what's all this, no, I don't know anything about it. It's just weird I don't even know how it happened from the passing comment."