Royal Mail has created 12 special stamps to mark the 'Coronation Street' 60th anniversary.

Anne Kirkbride and Bill Roche

Anne Kirkbride and Bill Roche

As part of the soap's celebrations this year, the postal service has unveiled a range of 12 stamps with eight of them featuring some of the cobble's beloved double acts, including Vera (Liz Dawn) and Jack Duckworth (Bill Tarmey), and Deidre (Anne Kirkbride) and Ken Barlow (Bill Roche).

Each image includes a quote summing up the couple's on-screen relationship, while another four stamps included on a miniature sheet celebrate characters who worked at the Rovers Return.

'Corrie' boss Iain MacLeod said: "In our historic 60th year, it is an honour to have the show immortalised in this fashion.

"'Coronation Street' has had many iconic double acts down the years. Indeed, it's a defining feature of the show.

"I hope fans will agree that the ones we've chosen, after much heated debate, are among the best of the bunch.

"This fun idea is a great way to pay homage to the nation's best loved soap and give lovers of 'Coronation Street' a little smile when an envelope pops through their letterbox and they see their favourite characters looking up at them."

Other famous duos include Ena Sharples (Violet Carson) and Elsie Tanner (Pat Phoenix), Stan (Bernard Youens) and Hilda Ogden (Jean Alexander), and Rita Sullivan (Barbara Knox) and Norris Cole (Malcolm Hebden).

Meanwhile, Bet Lynch (Julie Goodyear), Raquel Watts (Sarah Lancashire), Liz McDonald (Beverley Callard) and Gemma Winter (Dolly-Rose Campbell) all feature as part of the Rovers collection.

Royal Mail's Philip Parker added: "For six decades Coronation Street's fans have witnessed the unfolding lives of its residents, and shared their sorrows and laughter...

"We celebrate the nation's best-known street with stamps showing some of its unforgettable characters."

The collection is available to pre-order and will be officially released on May 28.