CORONATION Street bosses have defended last night's ghostly story-line after BEN readers complained that the soap had spooked their children.

The episode sent a shiver down the spine of young viewers as Vera Duckworth (played by Liz Dawn) saw the ghost of her dead friend Ivy Brennan.

Readers hit out after children - some as old as eight - were frightened by the family show they normally watch without any fear. But a Granada TV spokesman said: "I must stress this is a very light-hearted story-line.

"It centres around Vera Duckworth who is one of the most comic characters in the show.

"As the plot develops I really don't feel that anybody could misconstrue it as being genuinely scary."

She added that there was nothing actually shown on screen to represent a ghost and said publicity for the show had warned people about the nature of last night's episode.

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