A STAR of Coronation Street will make a huge return to the soap in just weeks.

The actress has seemingly made a U-turn on her plans to ‘take a break’ from the long-running ITV serial drama.

Dame Maureen Lipman, 79, is beloved amongst soap enthusiasts for her role as Evelyn Plummer, grandmother of Tyrone Dobbs (Alan Halsall).

In July last year, it was reported that the veteran actress was set to take an ‘extended break’ from Coronation Street.

At the time, her character was written out as she decided to embark on a new career and study law at University as a spokesperson confirmed she decided to take a sabbatical.

As such, she moved away from the cobbles to concentrate as she sought out accommodation in university halls of residence at the age of 78.

Now a source has told The Sun that Evelyn will be back in Weatherfield, and fans only have a short time to wait.

An insider told us: “As Evelyn went off to uni, it makes sense for her to pop back in from time to time.”

Fans saw her official exit storyline play out on-screen back in January after regular appearances on the show since 2018.

But during a TV appearance with Alan Titchmarsh, Dame Maureen also confirmed that she was not entirely done with the soap.

Appearing on Love Your Weekend, she admitted: “Yes, I have been signed up to do another year.”

“It’s good for you, it keeps you on your metal, my goodness me. I mean everything is still completely fascinating to me.”

However, in December last year, she told The Sun: “I’ll be absent for a while, and then coming back.

“I’m not going to die but then I’ll be in and out of it because I want to have a bit of a life.

“David and I are thinking of having a bit of a gap year.”

However, Dame Maureen also appeared to take a swipe at bosses, as she urged producers to take a ‘back to basics’ approach with storylines.

Speaking on the Beyond The Title podcast, she remarked: “We’ve come to a point in Corrie now where people are getting murdered in knicker factories.

“We’re having domestic abuse. Anything that ticks the box of social problems in the 21st century is going to be in your local soap.

“Whereas back then you had the freedom to put Martha [Longhurst], Minnie [Caldwell] and Ena [Sharples] in the snug and have a conversation about Ben-Hur.

“It’s never been political but I always like it when the women sit down and go, ‘Ooh, Donald Trump, ain’t his hair shocking.'”

I’ll be absent for a while, and then coming back. I’m not going to die but then I’ll be in and out of it because I want to have a bit of a life.

Dame Maureen LipmanThe Sun

She added: “All those wonderful expressions that your parents come out with.

“Like my mother saying, ‘Ooh, doesn’t a black skirt cover a multitude of sins.’ People talk like that, and we recognise it as true.”