Shelley weighs in to F1

Coronation Street's Shelley Unwin was left red-faced after damaging a Formula One car worth hundreds of thousands of pounds by sitting on it.

10:58 21 February 2005

Coronation Street's Shelley Unwin was left red-faced after damaging a Formula One car worth hundreds of thousands of pounds by sitting on it.

Actress Sally Lindsay, who plays dieting Shelley in the ITV soap, was being photographed with the Jordan F1 car as part of a publicity stunt for the British-based team.

But things went a little pear-shaped after the ample actress sat on a car normally driven by Heinz-Harald Frentzen - and cracked the bodywork.

The incident occurred at Manchester's Daytona centre at a go-karting event organised by EastEnders' Shane Richie.

It had particular relevance to fans of the show as Sally's character is currently being forced to shed the pounds by her cruel onscreen lover, Charlie, played by Bill Ward.

"Sally sat on the car and there was suddenly an almighty crack," a show insider told the Sun newspaper.

"She looked rather sheepish. The F1 car can withstand 200mph crashes. It's ironic."