Coronation Street‘s Debbie Webster returns to the cobbles next week as a free woman, after being released from prison following a successful appeal.

However, with her son and her husband at war, and bad news coming from a dementia assessment, Debbie might well be wishing she had stayed inside…

“Debbie struggles to settle back in Weatherfield – in fact, she goes missing straight after getting out,” explains our Weatherfield insider.

“It’s Carl who tracks down his mum, but he doesn’t stay the hero for long. He’s soon got his begging bowl out – leading Ronnie to take action…”

Carl claims he needs £10k to pay back Fiona, the woman he was embroiled in a dodgy car scam with.

When Debbie offers to give him the cash – albeit with a condition that he works off the debt – furious Ronnie decides to do a bit of digging. But when he contacts Fiona himself, what will he find out?

Meanwhile, there are health concerns as well as financial ones over Debbie. Mary Taylor and Tracy Barlow arrive at the hotel for a meeting with a bride and her mother about wedding flowers.

However, when Debbie serves their champagne, she makes some rather ill-judged comments to Tracy’s customers which ruin the meeting and leave Ryan Connor worried about her erratic behaviour…

“Later, Debbie accidentally grabs some hot plates Ryan is carrying, and burns her hands as a result,” continues our spy. “So, it comes as little surprise when her latest MRI scan reveals that her condition has worsened.”

Worried and fired up, Ronnie later tears a strip off Carl for flirting with Jodie rather than checking in on Debbie. When Carl then tells Debbie about the run-in, she despairs at the rift between her son and her husband. But when Ronnie arrives, rather than start another bust-up, he offers shocked Carl the hand of friendship.

“This is a real turn up for the books – after all, Ronnie has been nothing but a thorn in Carl’s side for weeks now,” notes our source. “But with Debbie’s condition only heading one way, maybe it is time that Ronnie and Carl mended their differences and joined forces to look after the woman they both love.

“But is Ronnie’s change of heart just a little too sudden – and should Carl still be watching his back?”

Whatever Ronnie’s motives, he’s soon reminded of how much Carl means to Debbie when the pair lark about at the hotel and Carl teaches his mum to waltz.

As his wife laughs in the arms of her son, has Ronnie finally realised that Debbie needs the pair of them for whatever time she has left?