Coronation Street Star Pleads Guilty to Drink Driving Charge

Coronation Street star Barbara Knox been handed a fine and a 12-month driving ban in court today.  The actress, who plays Rita Tanner in the Manchester based soap, plead guilty to a charge of drink driving. Today's hearing at Crewe magistrates court comes 10 months after her arrest in Chershire last May. On the occasion in question, Knox, 81, was arrested shortly after her daughter Maxine Ashcroft, 56, had been held for the same offence. The prosecution said that the actress had arrived at a police station to see her daughter following the arrest, but was asked not to drive home as she appeared to be under the influence of alcohol. Knox proceded to get behind the wheel anyway, but was stopped by police and asked to undergo a breathalyser test. She is now banned from driving for one year and must pay a fine of £3,000.