Neilson: 'I have to be careful with Roy'

Coronation Street star David Neilson has ruled out making public appearances as his character Roy Cropper.

The 60-year-old actor, who has played the café owner since 1995, claimed that he would ruin the illusion of his alter ego if he ever allowed fans to see Roy off screen.

Neilson told PA: "I get invited to perform as Roy but I can't do it without the scripts, and I am really careful with him."

He continued: "He is not a mainstream character that can interact with people. He wouldn't be in that position and it would make a mockery of him and the creation is important to me. I believe in Roy and Hayley and that they run a little café somewhere."

The soap star added that he is always working to show how Roy is different to fellow Weatherfield residents in his screen performances.

"[Roy] is the sort of person who rehearses a conversation before he goes into a shop, and if he does not get the right answer back he can't compute it," he explained.

"He is definitely on the autistic spectrum. I chose that he doesn't ever lie, that he doesn't drink, that he always carries a bag. I wanted him to be autistic. He is very literal and he can't read between the lines."

Roy will soon be seen in a comedy spinoff DVD set in Romania with wife Hayley (Julie Hesmondhalgh) and hellraiser Becky McDonald (Katherine Kelly).