ITV Coronation Street's Imran star reveals he wanted to leave soap two years ago and why he's gone now

In shock scenes, Charlie De Melo has bowed out of Coronation Street as Imran Habeeb. The actor played the ITV soap character for almost five years and after weeks of scheming, his time was up.

This week, Corrie has been building up to a horror crash from Imran and his new wife Toyah. It comes as the pair battled Abi Webster for custody of baby Alfie. During Tuesday night’s episode, viewers saw newlyweds Imran and Toyah slumped unconscious in the wreckage of their car and immediately had questions about what had happened and who - if either of them - would survive.

Then during Wednesday night’s (June 1) aftermath, Imran was seen battling to get his car door open before wincing through the pain to grab his phone out of his pocket and call an ambulance. He begged them to hurry as his wife was unconscious and bits of the scaffolding continued to fall.

READ MORE: ITV Coronation Street: Real life of Imran Habeeb star Charlie De Melo - co-star split and adorable off-screen role

In a heartbreaking twist of fate, it was Imran who ended up succumbing to his injuries. After dragging Toyah to safety and staying by her side while she was placed in the back of an ambulance, the solicitor suddenly collapsed.

Paramedics fought to save his life but Imran died of a cardiac arrest on the scene. Speaking about how it felt to leave the character behind after four-and-a-half years, the actor told the Manchester Evening News and other press: "It’s uncanny really.

"It’s a strange feeling. Specifically, the final week itself, where a lot of effort had been put into getting it sorted out, there was an impending burden, it felt like there was but there may not have been, to get this right. The fact that it seemed to go well and the fact that