Coronation Street star Bill Tarmey - best known as Jack Duckworth - plans to quit the soap next year, according to the papers. The News Of The World reports that the 67-year-old actor, who has spent nearly 30 years playing the loveable rogue, will sign a new one-year-contract to stay on the soap in the autumn - but it will be his last. And his departure will coincide with the 30th anniversary of his time on the show. "Bill wants to get to three decades in Corrie, which is a huge achievement," a source told the paper. "He's not getting any younger and wants to enjoy retirement, and he's not in the best of health and does find the workload on Corrie very tiring." Tarmey's co-star Liz Dawn, who played his onscreen wife Vera Duckworth, left the show last year - and Tarmey had some of his most emotional scenes in his time on the soap following Vera's death. A show insider told the paper they were hoping to persuade him to stay on until the show's 50th anniversary in 2010 - but said he would be "hugely missed" if he did go. "He has been a huge part of the show for many decades," the source said.
