Charlie West was a friend of Les Battersby's who would supply all manner of goods for Les's schemes and scams and frequently, but comically, operated on the wrong side of the law.
He was first seen supplying a turkey for the Battersbys' Christmas dinner in December 1997, the only problem being that the bird was still alive and Les had little idea (or stomach) about killing it himself. Under pressure from a horrified Janice and Toyah he agreed it could be kept as a pet but just a few days later ran over it in Coronation Street when it escaped. The "roadkill" ended up on the plates at No.5 after all but somewhat squashed.
Charlie's next act of "helpfulness" was in May 1998 and was to lend Les a Jaguar car to impress old flame Moira Wood in return for which Les would hide a stash of stolen car radios, however Les drove the vehicle into the back of police car on the way back home and found himself in the station on suspicion of theft of the Jaguar. When Janice discovered who Les had been seeing she threw him out of the house and Charlie supplied a camper van on its last legs for Les to sleep in. Parked outside No.5 it attracted the ire and disdain of the neighbours.
Charlie's next supply was the marquee for the wedding of Des and Natalie Barnes in October 1998 but this promptly collapsed when erected. The neighbours rushed to help put it up again and, with the help of tasteful decoration by Hayley Patterson the day was saved.
In the same month, Charlie's next act was to tell Les that the street's cobbles could be profitably sold and the two of them, together with Toyah's no-good boyfriend Philip "Dobber" Dobson started digging up the road. Things went wrong when Dobber lost his nerve when caught in the blaze of car headlights and dropped one of the heavy stones on Les's foot.
Charlie was next seen in December 1998 as one of a large group of Santa's in Roy's Rolls, enjoying cups of tea in between shifts as part of the "Rent-a-Santa" scheme.
In February 1999, Charlie sold Les an old turntable and a set of lights ahead of a Valentine's disco at The Flying Horse at which Les was the DJ. When tested on the power supply at No.5, the set promptly blew up. A few weeks later, Charlie got Les a job shovelling manure but paid him in toilet rolls rather than cash in hand as Les expected.
After buying Jack Duckworth's pigeons (and taking them away in a stolen van) and supplying a second grotty campervan for the Battersbys' holiday, Charlie was not seen again.
List of appearances[]
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1997 1998 |
1999
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