Coronation Street fans up in arms over 'unfair' aftermath of Stephen exposé

Coronation Street fans were up in arms after Wednesday night's episode of the ITV soap saw Stephen Reid's plot to murder his wife-to-be Elaine Metcalfe unravel dramatically. After a struggle with Elaine's son Tim, Stephen ended up banging his head on a spiral staircase - leaving him badly injured and needing surgery.

This came after a discovery Elaine made while she and Stephen got ready to leave for a trip to the Peak District where the killing was supposed to happen. A family photo revealed to Elaine that the woman she saw Stephen on a zoom with was his ex wife, Gabrielle.

Covering her alarm, Elaine headed out. Telling Tim that Stephen had been lying to her, Elaine started to piece together all Stephen’s suspicious activity.

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Elaine showed Tim a metal box in which Stephen filed things away. Tim prised this open and they were shocked to discover the forged life insurance documents. With Elaine out of the way, Tim waited at the flat to confront Stephen.

As an angry Tim told him the game was up and they were going to report him to the police, the struggle ensued and Stephen was hurt as Tim left the property. Stephen was then seen staggering into the street and collapsing, bleeding from a head wound. He was found by David Platt who raised the alarm.

Later, Tim was seen being visited at home by police officer Craig Tinker who arrested him on suspicion of GBH, explaining that there was CCTV evidence - a turn of events that left some viewers expressing their outrage on Twitter.

Louise Hazeldine @LouiseHazeldine said: "This is so unfair - Tim was doing all the detective work!!"

David Boink @DavidBoink commented "Free Tim" while Tracey Morait