Coronation Street viewers divided as Alya Nazir is subject to 'hideous' racist abuse

Some fans thought the scenes were 'inappropriate' pre-watershed

Coronation Street is known for delivering hard-hitting story lines, and that's why we all love it so much!

But on Wednesday evening, fans of the show were left shocked after the ITV soap's Alya Nazir [Sair Khan] was subject to a barrage of horrific racist and sexist abuse during the episode.

Naturally, the controversial subject sparked a huge debate on Twitter, and while some praised ITV bosses for taking on such an important issue, others slammed Corrie's decision to air the 'disgusting' abuse.

In case you missed it, the scene showed pals Alya and Aidan Connor [Shayne Ward] trying to make a deal for the knicker factory with two men from Manchester - Justin and Dale Parker.

During the shocking business deal, Dale told Alya: "Lighten up will you? Oh you can't you're still that colour".

Before adding remarks such as "your kind are so boring" and "your kind don't have a sense of humour".

The pair also made repeated sexist comments and kept referring to her as Aidan’s "assistant" or "secretary".

A furious Aidan then confronted the men and forced them to leave, but Alya said she needed to "grin and bear" the racists in order to get the business deal, telling him: “It’s not the first time I’ve met blokes like them and I doubt it’ll be the last".

Ahead of the episode airing, the show sent out a warning message saying there would be 'scenes of racial abuse and language that some viewers may find upsetting', but that didn't stop fans rushing to Twitter to have their say on the show.

“When a racist comment is made in a soap…you know it’s time to stop watching #Corrie so unnecessary and out of date," said one viewer.

See more

While another commented: "Omg Cant believe my ears. Totally shocked", and a third added: "Corrie is a bit brutal tonight, how can ITV even think that's OK to air?"

However, some viewers praised Coronation Street for tackling the difficult story line, as one wrote: "Yes it is easy to complain about racist language on TV, but it highlights a more serious issue of the fact that there are some idiots or dinosaurs in society #Corrie".

See more

And another agreed: "It's a sensitive subject, but Corrie are tackling a subject that still happens in the UK. Racism is absolutely disgusting, anywhere in the world."