Arthur Webster

Arthur Webster was a colleague of Eddie Yeats on his bin round. They were in a council competition to win the "cleanest dustcart" award for which the prize was Cup Final tickets for the crew. The two men met in the Rovers to discuss tactics where Arthur chatted up Bet Lynch and Eddie half-jokingly offered her the role of their mascot. Back at 13 Coronation Street, Arthur told Eddie the points to watch for in cleaning the cart and warned him against sabotage from other teams at the depot. Hilda Ogden thought he was taking a lot of trouble over a cart and Arthur told her it was a habit from his early days in work when he had a pristine horse-drawn milk float. Eddie suggested that on the night before the contest, to avoid sabotage, they park the cart outside No.13. Stan objected but Hilda over-ruled him and Arthur told him that his preening wife was one in a million. Hilda got on well with Arthur and Eddie remarked on the fact. Stan grumbled that she liked anyone who made him look a fool and Arthur quipped that she wasn't short of friends then!

Arthur and Eddie brought the dustcart back to Coronation Street on a Sunday to get it spruce and were not pleased when Albert Tatlock tipped a bucketful of fireplace ashes into the back. Annie Walker also accused them of only working on that day to get the overtime and later complained of the vehicle being permanently parked in the Street though when she found out why it was there she graciously wished the two men the best of luck in their endeavours.

Someone who wasn't well disposed to them was Fred Gee who cynically said that they were only doing it for the tickets and made pointed comments that the cart would be left alone all night. Eddie and Arthur worried that Fred would attempt to sabotage their efforts and Stan suggested that one of them slept in the cab. Arthur claimed his wife would object to him being out all night and therefore the task would fall to Eddie. That evening in the Rovers, Fred riled Eddie by hinting that he would be spraying the side of the cart with an aerosol can during the hours of darkness.

The next day, the roof of the cart was covered with bird droppings necessitating another clean and they subsequently found out that Fred had put pie crusts up there to attract them. Arthur and Eddie also bought Alf Roberts a large scotch thinking he was a judge but after accepting the drink he told them that he had resigned from the position after the previous year.

The two men drove off in their gleaming vehicle and came back to the pub several hours later in triumph, annoying Fred when they crowed that the final clean he had forced them to carry out had done the trick.


 * The character was credited as "Vic Webster" in his latter two appearances although he was still called Arthur in dialogue.

1981

 * Mon 26th Jan
 * Wed 28th Jan
 * Mon 2nd Feb
 * Wed 4th Feb