Mal Roper (Tim Treloar) has developed a disturbing obsession with Bernie Winter (Jane Hazlegrove) in Coronation Street, but fans of the ITV soap fear there may be more worrying revelations ahead.

Mal’s first appearance on the cobbles was a red flag in itself when he turned up at the café and punched Roy Cropper (David Neilson) and accused him of having an affair with his wife, Alice.

Viewers will know that Roy had been writing to prisoners, having experienced first-hand the loneliness inmates can feel after being wrongly accused of murder.

He then received a letter from a woman called Alice, who claimed he had helped her son, and the pair began to communicate more frequently, before eventually agreeing to meet. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, their meeting never went ahead.