This article contains spoilers for tonight’s Coronation Street which has not yet aired on TV but is available to watch now on ITVX.

Another character has left the cobbles behind in recent Coronation Street scenes after cutting ties with a former friend.

Bobby Crawford (Jack Carroll) decided to head off to Majorca to visit Simon Barlow, who left Weatherfield last year to go sailing with dad Peter.

Though Bobby told Carla Connor (Alison King) that he wanted to celebrate his upcoming birthday, the real reason for his departure was much more upsetting.

Prior to his decision to leave, Bobby had found out that best friend Lauren Bolton (Cait Fitton) had suspected him of blackmailing her.

Lauren had been the victim of countless threatening texts after someone witnessed her crashing Tracy Barlow’s (Kate Ford) van into a skip.

Not wanting to go back to prison and risk her future with Frankie, she was desperate to find out who her blackmailer was and stop them from spreading the photographic evidence of her crime.

When Bobby encouraged her not to go to the police, Lauren grew suspicious that he was the person behind the messages.

However, the culprit was eventually revealed to be Jake Windass (Bobby Bradshaw), and Lauren managed to delete the photos without having to give him any money.

Meanwhile, Bobby had no idea what Lauren was up to and, genuinely concerned for her, posted the £500 her blackmailer had asked for through her letter box.

Today, Lauren was forced to confess the truth to Bobby, admitting that she had used his money to put down a deposit on a flat instead of paying off Jake.

This didn’t bother Bobby, until Lauren let slip that she had suspected him of being her blackmailer.

Bobby was hurt that she would assume he’d be so cruel just to get closer to her, and brushed off her attempts at an explanation.

His instant reaction was to get as far away from the street as possible, asking Carla for an advance on his wages and some time off work to jet off abroad.

When Lauren tried again to apologise, he informed her that he was leaving, and that when he got back he didn’t want them to be any more than strangers.