Arthur (Episode 1282)

Weatherfield council worker Arthur arrived in Coronation Street in April 1973 to fumigate No. 13 after mice and cockroaches were discovered. Stan Ogden had allowed the house to become a tip when Hilda was away for several weeks at her brother Archie’s and the problem became so bad for the adjoining Corner Shop and No. 11 that Elsie Howard was forced to call in the health inspectors.

A cheerful yet more cynical man than his younger colleague Jack, Arthur assured a worried Stan that he had nothing to be ashamed of and when asked how they went about the task, joked that they shot at the mice when they popped their heads out. The neighbours were not happy at having their van parked in the Street, feeling that it reflected badly on them. Norma Ford turned on the charm with Arthur, telling him he was the nicest exterminator she had ever met in an effort to get him to move the vehicle from outside the Shop – the charm worked and Arthur moved the van to outside the Mark Brittain Warehouse. When Hilda arrived back unexpectedly, she was stunned when Arthur answered the door and mortified when she found out why he was in the house. At the end of their day, Jack had saved one of the mice and was taking it home as a pet, he and his lads being fond of the creatures. Arthur told him he was soft.