Coronation Street gives fans another blast from the past tonight (March 24) as Wayne Hayes returns to Weatherfield after an 18-year absence.

Roy and Hayley Cropper's former foster son is coming back to the cobbles as the health and safety inspector who'll be investigating the Underworld roof collapse.

With show bosses promising that this will be a long-running whodunit storyline, Wayne might be sticking around for a while. But who is he, again? Here's our lowdown if you need a quick refresher.

Who is Wayne Hayes?

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Wayne joined Coronation Street in December 2000, back when he was a 10-year-old schoolboy.

The new arrival first attracted the attention of the Croppers after breaking into the Roy's Rolls café in desperate search of food. At the time, Wayne lived in a children's home but had run away from his mother's house, where he'd been due to spend Christmas.

As the Croppers got to know Wayne better, they uncovered some troubling facts about his upbringing. Alex Swinton, boyfriend of Wayne's mum Sheila, was regularly violent towards the boy – something Roy could relate to as his own stepfather was abusive.

Over time, Roy and Hayley grew increasingly attached to Wayne and Alex realised this was a situation he could exploit to his advantage. He demanded cash from the Croppers in exchange for permission to raise Wayne, then called for even more once they'd paid up.

Predictably, the Croppers' involvement in Wayne's life ended in disaster when they took him off for a holiday and considered never returning home. The much-loved couple were accused of kidnapping Wayne and hit the headlines, but their names were later cleared when Sheila did the right thing and reported Alex to the police as the true villain of the piece.

Who plays Wayne Hayes?

ITV

Back in the day Wayne was played by Gary Damer, who's since appeared in other shows like Dead Men Weds, Hotel Trubble, Fresh Meat, Staff Room and Some Girls.

The new-look Wayne is portrayed by Bolton-born actor Adam Barlow, 32, who's mainly worked in the theatre prior to his new job in Soapland.

Speaking recently about growing up with the same name as a Corrie character, Adam laughed: "As you can imagine I got lots of stick, people would constantly ask me where Ken and Deirdre were. So to now be in the show is great. The crew always call me by my full name, which is amusing.

"My best friend was called Vinnie Jones and he was the one that ironically took me away from playing football and got me into acting when I was 14. Everyone thought it was funny that Adam Barlow and Vinnie Jones were best mates."

What are Wayne's storylines now he's back?

BBC

Wayne's main job now that he's back in Weatherfield is to solve the mystery of the Underworld roof collapse. This will include putting pressure on Carla Connor, who's trying to keep quiet about her prior knowledge that the roof was dodgy.

Wayne quickly catches up with Roy upon his return and helps him out by uncovering some information about the engraving on his mum Sylvia's ring.

Adam explained: "Roy is a little suspicious of his motives initially, but Wayne makes it very clear that coming to see him has nothing to do with his investigations. He tells Roy that he separates his work and his personal relationships.

ITV

"He offers to help Roy research his mum’s ring and there are some lovely comedy scenes with Roy, Wayne and Brian. It is nice to see the two different sides of Wayne.

"Wayne knows that Carla is Roy's lodger but at first he doesn’t know their history and how close they are. It is certainly something that could be a bit of a conflict of interest for Wayne, especially as he is someone who prides himself in doing his job well.

"He won't let his relationship with Roy get in the way of that, even if it causes them problems."

Coronation Street airs tonight (March 24) at 8pm on ITV.

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