Edward "Ted" Loftus was a clerk at Dave Smith's betting shop in Rosamund Street in the late 1960s and early 1970s. A quiet, glasses-wearing man, Ted was married to Freda Loftus and they had two children, a son and a daughter.
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In 1969, Ted challenged Betty Turpin to a darts match, and attempted to bedazzle her with his obvious passion for the game. Ted won the match - but he didn't know that Betty had thrown it so that Ray Langton would lose money he had bet on her.
When Dave Smith's shop was demolished, Ted went to work for Benny Lewis at his new turf accountant in the Victoria Street precinct. Ted and his new employer seemed to get on well together. In 1973, Ted appeared at Stan and Hilda Ogden's party at 13 Coronation Street and got chatting to Hilda, who was keen to dispel the notion that she was all "mop and turban". A few days later, he played a minor part in the drama surrounding a gas leak at 1 Coronation Street in which Albert Tatlock was hospitalised and Coronation Street evacuated. Ted was the first person to encounter Kenneth Barlow when he returned home from Saddleworth, having no idea that his uncle was ill, and filled Ken in on recent events. He also located Minnie Caldwell's cat Bobby who had been missing since the evacuation, and returned him to the relieved pensioner.
Ted was an active participant in community events and was one of the few attendees at a meeting called by Ernest and Emily Bishop regarding the future of the Community Centre. Ted's suggestion of a running ballroom dancing class was taken up, and in June he participated with Hilda Ogden as his dancing partner.
In May 1978, Ted and Freda performed in a pram race, on The Flying Horse team, and they were awarded first place when Suzie Birchall and Steve Fisher, who passed the finishing line first, were found to have cheated.
- The character was uncredited in his first and third appearances.