Coronation Street kicks off high-stakes feud for four key characters

Coronation Street's Leanne Battersby clashes with Nick Tilsley next week when he's accused of sabotaging her business. And it's not long before Idris Nazir and Toyah Battersby are also drawn in…

The rivalry between the restaurant owners escalates into all-out war, but how dirty are former lovers Leanne and Nick prepared to play?

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"Tracy and her family come down with a bug, which she traces back to a meal at Speed Daal," begins Jane Danson, who plays Weatherfield's Leanne.

"Tracy kicks off to Leanne about it and tries to get compensation out of her! Leanne doesn't know how this could've happened, as everything at Speed Daal is done by the book and they would never use bad quality meat.

"Then she remembers she actually got the meat from Nick – Speed Daal had run out, their supplier was shut so Nick stepped in and gave her some from the Bistro as an act of goodwill. Unbeknown to either of them, the meat he gave her was out of date!"

Livid Leanne wants to believe this was just an honest oversight on her ex's part, but then she begins to wonder if it was deliberate. Surely Nick wouldn't purposely give her dodgy stock to trash her reputation – would he?

"Initially, Leanne doesn't think so as Nick is so uptight and diligent," reveals Jane. "Then Idris plants the seed that Nick might like their business to fail because it's doing better than his!"

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Word spreads among the community about the incident, causing Nick to be slated on social media, which has a big impact on the Bistro's takings.

Business gets so bad that Nick can't afford to pay his usual suppliers, and is reduced to buying cheaper meat from Freshco's! Leanne suggests Nick should cut his losses and sell up before he goes bankrupt, but does she have an ulterior motive?

"Leanne created the Bistro with Nick and doesn't want it to fail," continues Jane. "That was her baby once upon a time. But even though they've all moved on, don't forget Nick betrayed Leanne in the worst way possible and cheated with her sister.

"Leanne's suggestion to Nick to sell is kind of loaded, but it would solve all his problems. She uses Sam as a weapon, telling Nick he could focus on helping his son after everything he's been through if he didn't have the Bistro."

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Not everyone is convinced Leanne has Nick's best interests at heart, however. In a public showdown, Toyah accuses her sister and Idris of being behind the Bistro smear campaign so they can force Nick to sell it to them for a knock-down price! Is Toyah on the money or barking up the wrong tree?

"Leanne's certainly capable of that!" laughs Jane. "She's hot-headed and doesn't think about consequences. Leanne responds by throwing back in Toyah's face what she did to her with Nick. But Toyah knows Leanne better than anyone and can read her like a book."

Is Leanne secretly plotting Nick's downfall as revenge for his infidelity? And could the Weatherfield restaurant wars get even more out of hand?

Coronation Street airs on weeknights at 8.30pm on ITV1 and streams on ITVX.

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