Coronation Street’s fictional local newspaper has found itself in hot water – thanks to real-life advice from the press watchdog.

An unlikely storyline featuring the Independent Press Standards Organisation’s Editors’ Code of Practice has appeared in the ITV soap opera after its weekly Weatherfield Gazette contacted 11-year-old Hope Stape online to get a story about her serial killer father.

The approach appeared to be a breach of Clause 6 (Children) of the Editors’ Code, with solicitor Adam Barlow, pictured, mentioning in the soap how he had contacted the Gazette about the issue.

The storyline came about after Coronation Street’s writers contacted IPSO for research a number of months ago.

An IPSO spokesman told HTFP: “We were contacted earlier this year by the writers at Coronation Street who were researching this plotline. We were delighted to help.

“We explained that by using the Editors’ Code of Practice, we maintain and promote standards of reporting; that we support members of the public when someone has been wronged; and that regulation by IPSO is taken very seriously in newsrooms.

“The writers did a brilliant job in capturing that in this short scene. Of course we will be very pleased if we reach someone who needs our help because they saw us on Corrie.”

In 2018, HTFP reported how regional journalists had urged the writers on the show to “do their research” after a scene which saw a mob of local journalists harass the friends of a murder victim on the street.