Bill Roache cut from soap after arrest for rape

The 81-year-old actor, who has played Ken Barlow in the ITV soap since its launch in 1960, was arrested at his home in Wilmslow, Cheshire, yesterday.

Two scenes featuring him in tomorrow’s episodes have been removed and upcoming episodes are now expected to be rewritten.

Roache collected an award from Guinness World Records in 2010 for his lengthy service on the programme, which has made him the world’s longest-serving soap actor.

Following his announcement the actor was being charged over the allegations of rape, which date back to 1967, Nazir Afzal, Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS North West, said: “This decision was taken in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors and our guidance for prosecutors on sexual offences.

“Mr Roache has a right to a fair trial and it is therefore very important that nothing is said, or reported, which could prejudice that trial. For these reasons, it would be inappropriate for me to comment further.”

Last night, Roache, wearing a dark pullover, checked shirt and jacket, arrived back at his home, around 14 hours after his initial arrest.

He was driven by his solicitor in a Ford Focus which went straight up the drive of his home without stopping. Roache made no response to questions shouted to him from reporters. His solicitor said only: “Mr Roache will make a statement in the morning.”

A spokesman for Lancashire Police said yesterday: “We take all allegations of sexual abuse extremely seriously and would encourage people with any information about sexual abuse, or anyone who has been a victim of sexual abuse, to come forward and report their concerns confident in the knowledge they will be investigated appropriately and with sensitivity.”

An ITV spokeswoman said the broadcaster was not in a position to comment.

In March Roache issued an apology after he appeared to suggest during an interview that discussed the Jimmy Savile sex abuse scandal that victims were being punished for past sins.

The actor was interviewed for a New Zealand news programme and said the public should not be judgmental but be “totally forgiving” of people who had committed child sex crimes.

He told the programme: “If you accept that you are pure love, and if you know that you are pure love and therefore live that pure love, these things won’t happen to you.”

Asked to clarify whether that meant victims brought the abuse on themselves, he said: “No, not quite, but and yet I am, because everything that happens to us has been a result of what we have been in previous lives or whatever.”

He also called for anonymity for those accused of child sex offences because of the stigma they faced even if then found to be innocent.

Roache later issued a statement saying he was “sorry for any offence that has been caused”. His comments were condemned by abuse charities.

In a TV interview last year Roache said he had slept with up to 1,000 women. In the interview with chat-show host Piers Morgan he told of his regrets at regularly cheating on first wife Anna. The couple divorced in 1974. His second wife Sara died in 2009.

Viewers have followed Roache’s fortunes since Ken Barlow first emerged on screen as a fresh-faced, student in his 20s. Having been in the cast of Coronation Street since its debut in December 1960, the character has endured an array of professions and relationships in Weatherfield. He has even been joined in the show by his two real-life sons, Linus and James, who appeared as his long-lost son and grandson in 2010.

His arrest is not believed to be connected with Operation Yewtree – the national police investigation which was triggered by allegations of abuse against Jimmy Savile.

Roache’s Coronation Street co-star Michael Le Vell will stand trial in Manchester in September after being accused of child sex offences. The 48-year-old is charged with 19 offences including six counts of raping a child, six allegations of indecently assaulting a child and seven counts of sexual activity with a child.

The alleged offences are said to have taken place between 2001 and 2010.