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Coronation Street has been rocked by a homophobia scandal after staff complained that hate-filled comments were made on the ITV1 show’s set.

Bosses on Britain’s most-watched soap have now pinned a memo to the wall of the iconic studios, ordering actors and crew that anti-gay slurs will not be tolerated.

The memo says: “We have just been made aware of ­several recent instances of homophobic remarks being made on the studio floor.

“We are sure the vast majority of people working on Coronation Street find such behaviour unacceptable.

“But we’d like to make it absolutely clear that this is completely unacceptable. ITV has a bullying and harassment policy which clearly states that such behaviour may lead to disciplinary proceedings.”

The notice was placed in three locations around the soap’s Manchester studios following two complaints.

Gay Corrie actor Antony Cotton, 37, is believed to have been the subject of homophobic remarks. It is not known if he heard them, but no ­complaint has been made.

A Corrie insider revealed that show executives ­issued the warning because they feared an “unpleasant ­culture” had started to develop.

Our insider said: “This is an extremely worrying development. Coronation Street prides itself on being a tolerant and accepting place. One of our most popular actors, Antony Cotton, is gay and so is our outgoing executive producer Phil Collinson. We have had a number of gay characters on The Cobbles.

(Image: ITV)

“The fact people are making homophobic jokes on set is unacceptable. And what makes this even more worrying is it seems this was not an isolated incident.

“From what we know, a couple of ­members of crew were deeply offended by the kind of language being used by some people on set.

“It is unclear whether it was crew or cast who were making the jokes, but it seems certain people were starting to make some really crude comments and that a nasty culture was developing.

“We took the view that we had to nip this in the bud before it got out of control. It was a big call putting these notices up as we were aware there was every chance it could leak out, but the situation was serious enough we had to take action.

“There is a duty of care to all our staff and none of them should be made to feel uncomfortable while they’re at work because of the behaviour of others.

“Cast and crew alike have been left in no doubt that anyone who continues to use homophobic language will be severely disciplined. People caught in future face the real possibility of getting sacked. We have taken decisive action and are hoping this is the end of it.”

The warning notice, dated February 4, was signed by senior producers Kieran ­Roberts, Stuart Blackburn and Robbie Sandison.

The soap scooped a string of accolades at the National TV awards and millions of fans have been hooked by same-sex storylines involving Sean Tully, played by Antony Cotton, and Marcus Dent, played by Charlie Condou.

There was also a much-loved plot between Brooke Vincent’s character ­Sophie Webster and actress Sacha Parkinson’s Sian Powers.

(Image: Rex)

But despite the storylines being a hit with fans, the show, whose original writer Tony Warren was also homosexual, has been caught up in a gay row before, when some of its stars criticised the plots.

Soap legend Jean Alexander, who played Hilda Ogden, branded the number of gay characters “excessive”.

And Nick Cochrane – who was not on the show at the time but played Andy McDonald between 1989 and 1996 – added: “Fans love Corrie for its ­traditional values. I don’t think it’s the right platform to highlight so many gay issues all at the same time.”

It forced Corrie boss Phil Collinson to give a series of interviews denying he had given the show a “gay agenda”.

Speaking at the time of the row, he said: “We have a very broad cast with ­approximately 65 regulars.

“There are only two gay couples, just to set the record straight: Sean and ­Marcus, who are a very loving couple, and Sophie and Sian, who are a young part of a ­family who are loved, the Websters.

“There is no gay soapbox, we’re just telling stories about love. And the ­audience want to see that, I believe.”

Last night a Coronation Street spokeswoman said: “ITV takes the feelings of all employees extremely seriously. It was felt that this message should be put up as a reminder to everybody.”