Tributes to Coronation Street writer Adele Rose who died aged 87

Adele Rose, Coronation Street's longest-serving writer, has died of pneumonia at the age of 87. Her TV credits included Heartbeat, Z Cars, Angels, The Dustbinmen and Robin's Nest.

ITV, home to Coronation Street, paid tribute to Rose, hailing her as "particularly adept at giving voice to some of Corrie's classic fearless female characters".

Born in Salford, Rose wrote more than 400 episodes of the ITV soap between 1961 and 1998, and was its first female writer. She won a Bafta in 1993.

In 1989 she was approached to write a one-off drama about a youth club, which led to a full series of Byker Grove, set in and around Newcastle. The BBC show ran until 2006.

"She wrote the first three series by herself, but she was very busy with Coronation Street and they appointed a team of writers, but she still had a creative credit until it ended," said her husband Peter Chadwick.

Ant and Dec, who rose to fame in Byker Grove, described her as "an incredible lady and a wonderful writer".​

John Whiston, head of ITV in the North, said: "Not only was Adele a trailblazer, being the very first in what is now a long line of brilliant female Coronation Street writers, she was also particularly adept at giving voice to some of Corrie's classic fearless female characters, from Ena to Elsie, from Bet to Liz.

"If you watched Corrie growing up, then some of the most memorable episodes that are lodged in your mind were written by Adele. And for that the show will always be hugely grateful."