Major Coronation Street character declared dead in early ITVX release as star exits

It’s the end of an era (Picture: ITV/Metro)

This article contains spoilers for tonight’s Coronation Street, which has not yet aired on TV but is available to watch now on ITVX.

It was the end of an era in Coronation Street today as a major character was declared dead in emotional scenes.

In Monday’s instalment of the ITV soap, Craig Tinker (Colson Smith) was attacked and left for dead by Mick Michaelis (Joe Layton) after he pulled him over for drink driving.

Agitated Mick lashed out at Craig with a baseball bat, striking him over the head. When he realised he was unconscious, he fled the scene.

In tonight’s episode, Craig was found by Maria Connor (Samia Longchambon), who managed to quell her panic long enough to call an ambulance and keep Craig awake until it arrived.

Paramedic-in-training Asha Alahan (Tanisha Gorey) was called to the scene, and she wasted no time in getting Craig to the hospital, where he was joined by colleague DS Lisa Swain (Vicky Myers), who had promised to stay by his side.

Asha Alahan worked hard to help Craig Tinker (Picture: ITV) Asha stayed by Craig’s bedside (Picture: ITV)

It became clear that Lisa blamed herself for his current condition, having been the one to encourage him to try and prove himself as a good police officer.

When Asha returned to Craig’s bedside at the end of her shift, she agreed to stay with him while Lisa headed back to the station to try and catch his attacker.

Meanwhile, Mick was on the loose, still bubbling with rage and desperate to get revenge on Kit Green (Jacob Roberts).

When he met with Lou Michaelis (Farrel Hegarty) in the hospital carpark, she urged him to hand himself, though Mick had other ideas.

Craig was declared dead in devastating scenes (Picture: ITV)

Determined to face off with Kit, he kidnapped Bernie Winter (Jane Hazlegrove) in an attempt to lure him out.

At the hospital, things were looking positive for Craig when he woke up and seemed ready to give colleague Jess his official statement.

However, tragedy struck and his condition suddenly deteriorated, with the doctors forced to perform CPR.

When it became clear that the CPR wasn’t working, Craig was officially declared dead, leaving his family and friends devastated.