Freda Burgess

Freda Burgess is the deaf niece of the late Ernest Bishop who came to visit with her aunt Emily in August 2005. Emily's lodger Norris Cole didn't trust her however, thinking she had only come for money from Emily. She helped Emily when she fell down the stairs and sprained her ankle. She left Coronation Street in 2006 because she had enough of Norris and the way he was treating her.

In July 2009, Freda arrived back on the Street. She revealed to Emily that she was engaged, but her fiancée was in prison. She took a dislike to Emily's new friend Ramsay Clegg (Norris' half-brother) because she found him annoying - he was always too eager to please. Norris was thrilled, as he disliked his brother as well and felt they both had something in common. After staying a few days, Freda left again.

Freda turned up again in November after losing her job. She revealed to Emily that the woman she was working for was horrible to her, so she got her revenge by stealing her prosthetic leg. Emily didn't like this and said it was theft. However, Graeme Proctor found this amusing. She then got Graeme to dispose of the leg, as it was reported in the paper and she didn't want to get caught for theft.