Corrie link to real-life jail escape?

Criminals may have used a forthcoming Coronation Street plot as inspiration for a real-life jail escape, according to a report.

Prisoner Michael O'Donnell, 28, is currently on the run following a calculated series of events which allowed him to flee from an ambulance in Greater Manchester.

O'Donnell, who was awaiting sentence for burglary and conspiracy to rob, was being taken to the Salford Royal hospital on Sunday after cutting off part of his ear while behind bars.

As the ambulance was transporting O'Donnell, it was ambushed by four masked men with baseball bats and bolt cutters, who managed to free the convict.

According to the Daily Star, there are suspicions that the idea was lifted from a future Corrie storyline which sees villain Tony Gordon (Gray O'Brien) escape from jail in similar circumstances.

Last month, it was revealed that Tony is to feign a heart attack in prison, allowing his henchman Robbie Sloan (James Fleet) to free him by holding up an ambulance at gunpoint.

Assistant Chief Constable Ian Hopkins, who is investigating the O'Donnell case, said: "This was a terrifying attack on an ambulance and, though nobody was physically harmed, it certainly left the people who were looking after O'Donnell at that time feeling understandably frightened."