CORONATION Street star Dame Maureen Lipman is leaving the cobbles – for an extended break.

The actress – who plays Evelyn Plummer in the ITV soap – will depart her role towards the end of the year to take on a new job.

It was revealed yesterday that she is starring in Richmond Theatre’s panto Beauty and the Beast later this year.

And now it can be confirmed that the actress will take a sabbatical from the ITV soap.

A show spokeswoman said: “Dame Maureen is taking a sabbatical from Coronation Street towards the end of the year.

“We look forward to seeing her back on the cobbles in 2025.”

Maureen herself said: “They asked me to do Panto and I said ‘Oh no I can’t’ .…. they said ‘OH YES YOU CAN’”

Maureen will be performing from December 7 to January 5 alongside comedian and magician Pete Firman.

The 77-year-old has played Evelyn Plummer on Corrie since 2018.

Earlier this year she took a brutal swipe at the soap, urging bosses to scrap gritty storylines.

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Maureen said the soap should go back to basics, rather than overly dramatic storylines.

She said: “We’ve come to a point in Corrie now where people are getting murdered in knicker factories.

“We’re having domestic abuse. Anything that ticks the box of social problems in the 21st century is going to be in your local soap.”

Speaking on the Beyond The Title podcast, she continued: “Whereas back then you had the freedom to put Martha [Longhurst], Minnie [Caldwell] and Ena [Sharples] in the snug and have a conversation about Ben-Hur.

“It’s never been political but I always like it when the women sit down and go, ‘Ooh, Donald Trump, ain’t his hair shocking.'”

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She added: “All those wonderful expressions that your parents come out with, like my mother saying, ‘Ooh, doesn’t a black skirt cover a multitude of sins.’

“People talk like that, and we recognise it as true.”