James Roache: 'I ran riot on Corrie set'

James Roache has admitted that he and his friends used to run "riot" around the Coronation Street when he was younger.

The actor - who recently returned to the ITV1 soap as his real life father William's (Ken Barlow) on-screen grandson James Cunningham - confessed that he used to spend weekends on the Manchester set.

"It was like the most luxurious playground and we just ran riot for a couple of hours. We were terrible," Roache recalled while speaking to The Sun. "I can't believe my father let us do it.

"We'd go into the corner shop and stuff our faces with sweets and chocolate, then we'd go into the Rovers and pull each other pints."

Revealing more, he continued: "There was a character at the time with an electric wheelchair and we'd sit on that and zoom in and out of the sets and drain the battery. We even set off the fire extinguishers. They installed security cameras but we worked out the blind spots.

"Then they changed the chocolates in the Kabin to fake ones - I'm sure that was down to us. I'm amazed they've invited me back really!"

However, the 25-year-old insisted that while his surname helped him get his "foot in the door", he is determined to prove his ability.

"I was a bit worried that some people might say I'm only in the show because my father plays Ken, and it's hard because nepotism is an accusation that can fly around," he said, later adding: "If you haven't got the ability or the goods, you're not going to get anywhere."

> James Roache 'studied old Corrie clips'