The life and work of Coronation Street creator Tony Warren will be celebrated in a new exhibition in Manchester from this autumn.

Warren, who died last year aged 79, devised the soap opera – based in fictional inner-city Salford town Weatherfield – at the age of just 24.

His early life and career will be remembered at the Salford Museum and Art Gallery, near to where he grew up and where he came up with the idea for the world’s longest-running serial drama.

Tony Warren
Tony Warren on set (ITV)

Visitors will be able to learn about Warren’s younger days, from his formative years in Pendlebury, Salford, to his work as a script writer and how he came to develop Coronation Street.

Original scripts from the show, which debuted in 1960, and other pieces of Warren’s written work are set to go on display.

Tony Warren
(ITV)

“He brought the lives of ordinary Salford people to the television screen, which hit a note with the nation and continues today.”

Kieran Roberts, ITV’s executive producer of Coronation Street, said: “Coronation Street is the story of the everyday lives of ordinary folk living on a cobbled back-street somewhere in Manchester.

“The unique blend of heart-warming comedy and powerful drama has been at its heart since the very first episodes in 1960.

Tony Warren – Book Launch – Manchester
Coronation Street creator Tony Warren with his novel ‘Behind Closed Doors’ (PA archive)

“Tony Warren was a wonderful and brilliant man who created not just the programme but an entire genre of British television. Tony left a huge legacy which is still growing and evolving.

“Coronation Street is the nation’s street and I hope that many people will enjoy this new exhibition that gives fascinating insights into the genesis of the programme and the genius of its creator.”

The exhibition, titled Four Miles From Manchester; Tony Warren’s Coronation Street, will run from Saturday October 21 2017 until Tuesday July 3 2018 at the Salford Museum and Art Gallery.