Mrs Claxton was the assistant at the local launderette, the Laundryer. In 1965, she chatted with Elsie Tanner when Elsie brought her washing there, giving Elsie the idea to apply for the vacant position of manageress.
Well acquainted with each other, the women had a catch-up as Mrs Claxton weighed Elsie's washing and put the transaction through the till. Elsie learned that Mrs Claxton was having to work more hours as the launderette was under-staffed. Although she admitted that it was money for jam, the middle-aged woman was hoping that the owner Mr Benson would take on a manageress as it was becoming too much for her feet. Having just rowed with her boss Mr. Papagopoulos at Gamma Garments over his decision to put a relief manager over her while Emily Nugent was on holiday, Elsie listened keenly as Mrs Claxton told her about the hands-off Mr Benson who only stopped by once a month. A day or two later, having thought about it Elsie went back to the Laundryer to check that the job of manageress was still going, and told Mrs Claxton that she intended to apply. She then did so and was taken on straightaway.
On Elsie's first visit, she left one of her stockings behind in her washing machine which Mrs Claxton passed on to Len Fairclough when he called in there the next day. This led to a misunderstanding in the Rovers later, with the regulars getting the wrong impression about how he came to possess the garment.
- Mrs Claxton was a pre-Effie Spicer role for actress Anne Dyson.