New barmaid for the Rovers Return?

BRITISH wheelchair basketball player Laurie Williams resisted the temptation to pop in for a warm and foaming pint of Newton and Ridley after a visit to the set of Coronation Street.

FANCY A PINT: Coronation Street actress Cherylee Houston and British Basketball's Laurie Williams visit the Rovers Return (Action Images)

Williams swapped the court for Weatherfield's famous cobbled streets as she visited the cast of the iconic soap ahead of next month's BT Paralympic World Cup in Manchester.

She joined Cherylee Houston, who will become the the first ever actor in the soap's 50 year history to play a permanent character with a disability, when she is introduced to viewers on Friday.

Williams is no stranger to the small screen either, having appeared in the BBC's Desperados three years ago.

"I'm delighted that the soap has enabled a permanent role for an actress with a disability and as a huge fan of the programme I look forward to seeing her on screen," she said.