CORONATION Street and Emmerdale boss John Whiston has quit ITV after nearly 30 years.

The channel veteran has overseen epic live episodes and helped shape storylines that have pulled in millions of viewers.

In a statement, Whiston said: “I’ve always said I’ve got the best job in TV. I used to say it privately in case ITV stopped paying me.

“It has been nothing short of an honour, as well as a blast, to work on the Soaps this last decade or so. We’ve had joy, we’ve had fun and we’ve had seasons in the Sun.

“We’ve also had misery and mayhem. We’ve had motorway crashes, tram crashes and floods. We’ve had stories which have squeezed your heart till tears came out of your eyes.

“And we’ve covered pretty much anything and everything that people have to face in their own lives and we’ve done that with care and humanity.

“And all that is down to the 600 or so people – the writers, crew, cast and editorial – who have kept the show on air and at an incredible quality day in day out. And it’s them who have made my job ridiculously easy. Just don’t tell ITV.”

Replacing him will be Iain MacLeod as Creative Director and Matt Cleary as Chief Operating Officer.

Prior to his exit, it was revealed that the channels soaps were in cash crisis with bosses forced to axe talent to bring down the budget.

In a move to bolster coffers, chiefs trademarked ‘Corrie’ with a view to flogging lucrative merch.

Despite the challenges, John insisted the future looked bright. He continued: “With fantastic stories in place for the move to five episodes a week next January, and a never-before-seen mega mash-up between the two shows, the future for our ITV Soaps is set fair.

“So it’s the right time to leave and for me just to say thank you… to colleagues, to ITV and to our loyal, appreciative audience.”

Tributes to the highly-respected TV man came from the very top of the station.

Kevin Lygo, Managing Director, Media and Entertainment said: “John has been a stalwart of ITV, the North, and the soaps for a very long time. His fingerprints are all over Coronation Street and Emmerdale and they are all the better for it.

“Every twist and turn of the plotlines have had input from John and he will be sorely missed by all that have worked with him. ITV and I have been very fortunate to work with such a wonderful man. We wish him well in the next episode of his life.”

Whiston began his career at the BBC where he helped BBC2 rival BBC1 for viewing figures after introducing theme nights.

He also launched hugely successful shows like Vic & Bob’s Shooting Stars and Lee & Herring’s Fist of Fun.

A move to Manchester saw him commission and produce iconic shows that are still much-loved to this day. Among them was Red Dwarf, The Mrs Merton Show and The Royle Family.

He switched to rival ITV in 1999 as Director of Programmes at Yorkshire TV, immediately making an impact on the likes of Emmerdale, Heartbeat and A Touch of Frost.

His stellar eye for a good drama showed no sign of abating with At Home with the Braithwaites, Fat Friends and Lost For Words among his successes.

Whiston followed this by taking over ITV’s drama stable including programmes like Poirot, Marple, Prime Suspect, Vera, Lewis, the Oscar-winning feature film, The Queen and Coronation Street.

He was promoted to Director of ITV Productions in 2005, a role he held for five years before finishing as Managing Director of Continuing Drama and Head of ITV in the North.