Street seeks southerners in ratings war

Londoners are being drafted into the cast of Coronation Street - along with internet cafes and wine bars - as Britain's longest running soap opera seeks to win younger viewers.

Executives at Granada TV have decided the 44-year-old series must be modernised to stay ahead of its BBC rival EastEnders.

They fear young people are being turned off by the dour northern flavour of the Street and more southerners would make the soap more cosmopolitan.

Coronation Street still attracts 14 million viewers per episode but its ratings lead over EastEnders is only 500,000.