Coronation Street star Malcolm Hebden has said that he is surprised by the popularity of his character Norris Cole.

The 69-year-old actor told the Blackpool Citizen that he has enjoyed playing the role of the Weatherfield shopkeeper since 1994 but said that he sometimes found it difficult to cope with fame.

He said: "I am a private person. I live alone and I quite like it like that. I don't hide away though, and I've been filmed shopping in Sainsbury's on someone's mobile phone once - it was on YouTube.

"You do have to be careful though. I don't go out clubbing at night.

"For one thing I'm too old, but I don't anyway because when people have had a few drinks their attitude can be slightly different."

Malcolm confessed that he was surprised by the popularity of his Corrie character.

He explained: "Norris is a very popular character in general though, and he's also very popular with children, which surprises me. I would have thought he'd get on our nerves, but he doesn't."

Malcolm also gave some details about how the storyline, with his estranged half-brother Ramsay Clegg (Andrew Sachs), will develop over the coming months.

He said: "The storyline is starting very slowly and at the moment I'm just being very vile to him, and I remain so until much later on when the true story comes out."

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