Coronation Street star Antony Cotton has paid tribute to a ‘much-loved’ colleague following his death.

Matthew Owens worked behind the scenes on several stunt blocks for the ITV soap as a fire safety advisor, where he and Antony met in 2013.

The Sean Tully actor took to Instagram to share a picture of the order of service from the funeral, alongside an emotional caption.

‘Today was a very hard day for so many people, especially Matt’s family,’ he wrote.

‘I still can’t quite get my head round it, to be honest. Matt was just a really, really nice lad.

‘We met when he did the fire safety for a stunt block at Coronation Street, 13 years ago and we’ve been friends ever since.

‘He was a much loved son, brother, dad, colleague and partner. He was also a quiet and humble, solid friend.

‘I’ll miss hearing from you Matt, out of the blue sometimes, but always with a smile. You are at rest now, no more worries Matty Boy.’

Alongside his work as a firefighter, Matt worked on numerous high-profile TV series, including other soaps like Emmerdale and Hollyoaks.

He began working on Emmerdale in 2011, and was involved in some huge stunts, including the helicopter crash and the Hotten bypass crash.

His first stunt on Coronation Street was the Rovers Return fire in 2013, and most recently he worked on the dramatic Halloween episodes in 2021.

These episodes saw Abi Webster (Sally Carman) face off with her son’s killer, Corey Brent, while Leanne Battersby (Jane Danson) was held hostage by gangster Harvey Gaskell.