THE former queen of Corrie, Julie Goodyear, is to star in teen soap Hollyoaks.

The Heywood-born actress - who played the Rovers' most famous barmaid, Bet Lynch, for a quarter of a century - will appear on screen in the Channel 4 drama on October 27.

News of the soap switch was confirmed by Mersey Television and it proves Julie has left the cobbles of Weatherfield behind her for good.

Hollyoaks was devised by Phil Redmond, the brains behind top programmes including Brookside and Grange Hill.

The drama, which is set in and around the fictional Chester suburb of Hollyoaks, is filmed mainly at the Mersey Television studios in Liverpool.

Julie, 64, who is due to publish her autobiography next month, first appeared in the Street for a brief time in 1966, but made the role of Bet her own when she returned to the cast full time in 1970.

She became an instant hit with viewers, shocking Rovers landlady Annie Walker with her provocative clothing and brassy manner.

By the 1980s her character was universally known for her bleached blond beehive hairdo and outrageous leopard print outfits.

Comedy moments

Along with Annie Walker, Betty Turpin and Fred Gee, Julie provided some of the Street's best comedy moments behind the bar of the Rovers Return.

But she proved over the years that she was more than capable of coping with dramatic scenes as well.

Julie retired from the Street in 1995. She made a brief but unsuccessful comeback in 2000 when she was written out after just a few episodes amid reports of ill health.

Last year she was one of the celebrities who took part in the ITV series Celebrity Fit Club, alongside former Corrie pal Ken Morley.

But she has consistently rejected offers to appear on the jungle show I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here.

Julie has turned down every approach from programme bosses on the grounds that her 60 a day smoking habit would make the long-haul no smoking flight Down Under too much of a drag.

The star's book Just Julie, in which she bares her soul for the first time, is the subject of a record soap publishing deal believed to be worth around é250,000.