Roache bailed on sex charges

Coronation Street actor Bill Roache has been bailed to appear at court again on 2nd September when he will enter formal pleas.

The 81-year-old actor was charged in May with two counts of raping a 15-year-old girl in east Lancashire in 1967, and last week he faced fresh charges of five indecent assaults involving four girls aged between 11 or 12 and 16.

Roache appeared today for a five-minute preliminary hearing at Preston Crown Court. His trial date is set for 13th January.

The actor William Roache has pleaded not guilty to 5 allegations of indecent assault against four girls in the 1960s. He is appearing at Preston Magistrates' Court.

Coronation Street actor Bill Roache's lawyer Brian Russell made a statement outside court.

Coronation Street actor Bill Roache has been bailed to appear at Preston Crown Court on Monday, when he is due to face an earlier charge of raping a 15-year-old girl in 1967.

Roache denies the allegations.

Coronation Street star Bill Roache is looking forward to standing before a jury to "vigorously protest his innocence" over the "deeply upsetting" indecent assault charges, his lawyer Brian Russell said today outside Preston Magistrates' Court.

Coronation Street actor Bill Roache is in court after being charged with five counts of indecent assault against four girls aged between 11 or 12 and 16.

Three of the alleged offences took place in 1965 and two in 1968.

Roache's lawyer Brian Russell said the actor will "vigorously protest his innocence".

Coronation Street actor William Roache will appear in court today accused of five historical offences of indecent assault involving four girls.

Roache, 81, from Wilmslow, Cheshire, was arrested yesterday morning after attending a police station in Cheshire by appointment.

The offences are said to have been committed in the Manchester area in 1965 and 1968 with the alleged victims aged between 11 or 12 and 16. He is due to appear at Preston Magistrates' Court.

Bill Roache is the world's longest-serving soap actor and has played Ken Barlow in the ITV soap since its launch. However, he won't appear in Coronation Street until legal proceedings have finished.

Roache collected an award from Guinness World Records in 2010 for his long service in Coronation Street, having joined in 1960 and appeared regularly ever since.

Bill Roache was arrested this morning after going to a police station in Lancashire by appointment. The 81-year-old from Wilmslow in Cheshire was released on police bail and is due at Preston Magistrates' Court tomorrow. The actor was already charged with two counts of rape.