Corrie and Eastenders £1m insurance bill

Britain's favourite soaps have racked up more than £1m of damage in the last three years, with Coronation Street claiming a £315,620 bill - ten times more than an average street in Manchester, a study by Esure has found.

The high rate of explosions, fires and crime in Corrie and EastEnders' Albert Square would see insurance claims of 10 times more than average, the study said.

An analysis of plotlines in Coronation Street, EastEnders, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks showed explosions were the biggest cause of soap damage (£311,000) followed by fires (£208,420) and car crashes (£173,550).

The Street's David Platt was television's biggest insurance nightmare. In one storyline he left a £10,000 trail of destruction when he vandalised windows and vehicles with a metal pole.

And Corrie also had the most expensive single incident, with the siege, fire and explosion at Weatherfield's Underworld knicker factor this summer causing an estimated £150,000 of damage.

Meanwhile, EastEnders had the highest crime rate with £70,145 worth of criminal damage.

In Hollyoaks the characters suffered 32 thefts and five muggings.

Nikki Sellers, head of home insurance at esure, said: "The storylines that we see on TV soaps add up to a fortune in damage to cars, property and individuals.

"We may find them unbelievable but real life incidents are often not that far from fictional storylines - the exception being the extraordinary number of major explosions and incidents of wilful 'trashing' by enraged characters.

"Clearly there are some soap residents that no insurer would consider touching because of the trail of damage they have left in their wake. We're on the edge of our seats ahead of Corrie's dramatic tram crash disaster - and only hope the fictional characters have the ample building and home contents insurance they may need to cover any damage costs."