Coronation Street fans have been left heartbroken by emotional scenes as the Rovers Return closed its doors, marking the end of an era.
The Weatherfield boozer has been a key part of the ITV soap's set during more than 60 years on air, but its familiar interior is now due for a refresh.
Earlier this week, a storyline showed the pub's staff being told that the Rovers needed to close for refurbishment and that their contracts were being terminated with immediate effect, causing uproar for the characters.
In Wednesday evening's episode, 27 September, the Rovers pressed ahead with its temporary closure, leaving the soap's devoted fans emotional and calling for the iconic pub to be saved.
Corrie's official social media accounts shared the clip of the Rovers being boarded up and captioned it: "The end of an era. Goodbye to the Rovers as we know it," with a broken heart emoji.
The sad scene showed Jenny Connor (Sally Ann Matthews), who recently sold up as landlady but was kept on as manager by the new owners, handing over the pub's keys to builders who began boarding up the windows.
Jenny looked sad as she walked over to join Daisy Midgeley (Charlotte Jordan), Glenda Shuttleworth (Jodie Prenger) and Sean Tully (Antony Cotton) who have all been sacked to make way for the revamp.
Sean said: "They don't mess about, do they?" as the builders got to work, while Kevin Webster (Michael Le Vell) told a heartbroken Tyrone Dobbs (Alan Halsall) as he bowed his head: "It's not dead!"
But Glenda summed up the mood as she said: "The old place might not be dead, but a little piece of us is."
She and the other former Rovers staff posed in front of the pub for a photo as Daisy said of the new owner company: "Waterfords, rot in hell!"
Viewers were every bit as upset as the characters, with one fan commenting: "Too heartbreaking," as another added: "I can't believe The Rovers is going." Someone else wrote: "Aw I feel so sad for Jenny. The Rover's is everything to the characters in the street."
Another fan added: "The street wouldn't be the same without the rovers return. Its the heart and soul of the street."
Many fans called for the pub to be reopened and some even said that viewers should get behind the Rovers staff with a campaign to keep it going. One fan commented: "They can't get rid of it. They've got to reopen it."
Someone else wrote: "SAVE THE ROVERS RETURN INN!!!!!"
Another viewer wrote: "Where’s the ‘save our cobbles’ or ‘free the weatherfield one’ mentality! Get a protest to save The Rovers started, immediately!"
The first Rovers landlady was Annie Walker (Doris Speed) with notable names above the door over the decades including Bet Lynch (Julie Goodyear), Vera Duckworth (Liz Dawn), Natalie Barnes (Denise Welch) and Liz McDonald (Beverley Callard).
Famous pint pullers working behind the bar have included Shelley Unwin (Sally Lindsay), Raquel Watts (Sarah Lancashire), Michelle Connor (Kym Marsh), Steve McDonald (Simon Gregson) and Becky McDonald (Katherine Kelly).
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