[Smithy]

Coronation Street's upcoming tram crash will reportedly be the most expensive stunt in soap history, costing £1 million.

Filming of the special week of episodes to celebrate the ITV soap's 50th anniversary began this week in Manchester.

Speaking to the Daily Star, executive producer Phil Collinson said that he had wanted even more cash from bosses.

"We've had a significant amount of extra money from ITV for this stunt," he said. "It's not enough, it's never enough."

He continued: "It's the most money we've ever spent in the show's history; it's going to be a spectacular set of episodes."

Collinson admitted that the stunt makes this year's Underworld explosion "pale into insignificance".

"To give you some idea, we usually film five episodes in 12 days," he said. "But for the 50th we will be filming five episodes in 10 weeks. It's basically the pace of a big drama."

He explained: "We do all of that but the rest of the show still has to rumble on.

"So in the lead up to it we're having to film lots more episodes, and afterwards as well, so we can keep airing for five nights a week. It's huge."

He continued: "They are going to make sure these episodes are like nothing we've ever seen on Coronation Street. I can't tell you how excited I am."

I am soo excited for this, the fact it's being filmed over such along period, means you know it's going to be edited to perfection