Kebab shop family face Corrie axe

The Morton family are among the characters being given the boot from Coronation Street in a huge cast cull, according to the papers. The Sun reports that kebab shop owner Jerry Morton - played by actor Michael Starke - and his onscreen clan are getting the chop following months of rumours that their characters had not settled in to the soap well. They will be leaving the show later this year, as will father and son bookies Harry and Dan Mason, played by Jack Ellis and Matthew Compton. The pair are being axed from the soap this autumn despite having only joined the cast in December last year. Actor Ian Reddington, who plays Liz McDonald's new husband Vernon Tomlin, is also set to leave. The cast cull comes following rumours a few weeks ago that the show's new chief Kim Crowther would be getting rid of several characters. "Coronation Street has always had a tradition of characters who come in to play out storylines beside established characters before moving on," Crowther told the paper. "As in any community there are people who live there for years and people who pass through. We still have some interesting storylines to play with these characters. They are all very talented actors and we wish them well."