A Coronation Street story, which has been branded by fans as going “too far” has officially begun.

Last year it was reported that fan-favourite Debbie Webster will be diagnosed with dementia in a long-running plot that will end in Debbie’s exit from the soap.

Devastated fans petitioned the soap to reconsider the storyline, arguing that it tipped the scales “too far towards darkness”.

Tonight the soap officially set the big exit storyline in motion as fans watched Debbie forget something significant for the first time.

Having broken up with Tommy and feeling fed up that her dad Ken had gone to The Lakes because he missed Cassie, Tracy was filled with rage.

After telling Craig off for failing to arrest Cassie, Tracy decided to take matters into her own hands and Debbie witnessed Tracy doing a dodgy deal with a man in the ginnel.

After inviting Cassie to lunch, Tracy handed her a bag of drugs. “Nice try, but I got clean of that stuff a year and a half ago,” Cassie said to Tracy, before grabbing the drugs and storming out.

When Evelyn turned up at Victoria Garden, where Cassie was living, Cassie threw the drugs in the bin and Evelyn pleaded with Fiz and Tyrone to give Cassie another chance but they refused.

Evelyn handed Cassie some cash, making her promise to stay somewhere safe and Cassie went back to the bin to search for the drugs before bedding down in the ginnel.

Meanwhile, Tracy cornered Debbie, telling her the man she saw her with was just an old school friend she was helping out.

To Tracy’s relief, Debbie said she had no recollection of the incident, saying: “No idea what you’re on about, have you got a secret lover on the sly?”

“No, no. Blind as a bat these days, didn’t see a thing,” Debbie added.