The Coronation Street cast will be racing to Jason Manford’s rescue when he is locked in the Rovers Return pub for an online event to mark the soap’s 60th anniversary.

The comedian will be trapped in the famous pub and Mikey North (who plays Gary Windass), Julia Goulding (Shona Platt), Ryan Russell (Michael Bailey) and Mollie Gallagher (Nina Lucas) will have just 60 minutes to set him free.

Race To The Rovers will be a live online event bringing together fans, cast and digital crew.

To rescue Manford each cast challenger will have to successfully complete a series of mental and physical games before his bar tab runs out and fans can offer help or hindrance by using specially created Twitter hashtags #CorrieHelp and #CorrieHinder.

Claire Hoang, digital executive producer for ITV, said: “We’re so excited to involve the audience in such a fun and exciting way to digitally celebrate 60 years of Corrie.

“We wanted to do something a bit different and this kind of groundbreaking digital project shows that we’re constantly trying to push what we can do on the cobbles.

“We’re incredibly proud to work with the Twitter LAB team, GUUD and Escape Game Design to create this unique experience for our fans – and we’re sure having Jason being rescued by Mikey, Julia, Ryan and Mollie will be as dramatic as everything else we’ve seen on the street over the years!”

Alice Beverton-Palmer, senior manager of entertainment partnerships for Twitter, said: “It’s great to see one of the UK’s most venerable TV shows is celebrating its 60th anniversary at the cutting edge of Twitter.

“This live streamed interactive escape room is an innovative use of our service and will get fans joining in the fun alongside their favourite Corrie stars.”

The event will take place on the @itvcorrie Twitter handle at 2pm on December 6.