ITV soaps Coronation Street and Emmerdale are reportedly gearing up for a return to filming at the start of June.
Both shows have been on a production hiatus since late March due to the coronavirus pandemic but a change in government guidelines this week has paved the way for filming to resume in short order.
According to The Sun, ITV has come up with a plan that will ensure social distancing by keeping cast members 2 metres apart but use clever camera angles to make it appear as if the characters are closer.
"ITV are sure they've come up with a solution to keep everyone safe," a source told the newspaper. "Production is starting up again in June. Emmerdale is being used as the benchmark for safety guidelines as they have a lot of space and it's the perfect location to put the social distancing measures into practice. Everyone will be adhering to social distancing and scenes will be filmed with smaller groups.
"The teams will be able to film in certain ways which will minimise distancing. The scripting teams are working on creating storylines with fewer characters."
Emmerdale is due to drop off air later this month, while Corrie has enough episodes in the tank to last throughout June and could avoid going off air altogether if production can safely resume.
Neil Wilkes
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