Home town honour for Oldham’s Sarah

SARAH LANCASHIRE: new honour

FORMER soap star Sarah Lancashire will make it a double degree success for Weatherfield next week.

She will follow in the footsteps of fellow former “Coronation Street” actress Shobna Gulati on Thursday when she receives an honorary degree from University Campus Oldham (UCO). Sarah, originally from Garden Suburb, shot to fame for her role as dizzy barmaid Raquel in the ITV soap. She already has an honorary master of arts from Salford University.

After leaving the cobbles, the former Hulme Grammar School and Oldham College student went on to appear in a number of TV series including “Where the Heart Is”, “Murder Most Horrid” and “Seeing Red”. In 2001, she won a Best Actress award for her role in the hit BBC drama “Clocking Off”, while last year she had a date with a Time Lord when she played a villain in an episode of “Dr Who”.

Sarah will share the limelight with the borough’s graduates at UCO’s degree ceremony at the Queen Elizabeth Hall.