Coronation Street viewers accuse characters of 'ignoring coronavirus rules' in Dev's shop

13 August 2020, 10:54 | Updated: 13 August 2020, 11:30

Coronation Street's Sally Webster congratulates Dev Alahan on his lockdown beard

Corrie viewers weren't impressed with the latest scene shot inside Dev's shop.

Coronation Street viewers were left baffled this week after a scene in Dev’s shop showed the characters without face masks on.

The moment on Wednesday’s episode saw shop-owner Dev Alahan have an awkward exchange with Sally Webster.

Alya Nazir then walks in to talk about her grandmother Yasmeen 's money that was stolen by her abusive husband Geoff.

While Sally and Alya were standing more than two metres apart and a social distancing advice poster could be seen in the background, some viewers noticed that the characters weren’t wearing face masks.

One person slammed: "I thought face masks were now compulsory in shops?

"Why are the people of weatherfield above the law? Very irresponsible behaviour. They’ll be responsible for the 2nd wave! #Corrie."

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Another fan suggested it was filmed before the government guidelines were put in place, writing: "It said the programme was filmed in march so not applicable."

While a third agreed: "They’re not up to date as yet. You’ll see it soon I’m sure."

And a fourth added: "Filmed before it was made compulsory."

Coronation Street are back filming with strict social distancing

An ITV spokesperson has since confirmed the scenes were shot before changes to government legislation.

They told Mirror Online: "Coronation Street and Emmerdale are mindful of their responsibility to show people wearing face coverings in situations where they are required by law (eg customers going into shops etc.)

"However, the show is filmed a long time in advance of transmission so there is inevitably a lag time before any changes to government legislation start to appear onscreen.

"Also, there will be some instances where, in the interests of producing a drama that is engaging and our audience want to watch, we feel it is necessary for characters' faces to be seen."

This comes after filming for Coronation Street started back up again last month, with production halted in March amid the coronavirus lockdown.

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