Coronation Street star William Roache today avoided being declared bankrupt over half a million pounds wanted by the taxman.
The actor, who is best known for playing Ken Barlow, invested in a business venture in the Cayman Islands which HMRC claims was a tax avoidance scheme – with an average investment of £1.75million across 288 high-earners.
In March, the 92-year-old was told he had three months to pay off nearly £550,000 or be declared bankrupt by the High Court.
But lawyers acting for HMRC said they were dismissing the case against Mr Roache, with only £1,129.20 to be paid in legal costs.
Judge Nicholas Briggs told the High Court: ‘I shall dismiss the application with costs.’
Coronation Street star William Roache, 92, today avoided being declared bankrupt over half a million pounds wanted by the taxman. Pictured here back in 2018
Mr Roache, whose property portfolio includes a £900,000 house in Wilmslow, Cheshire, did not attend the hearing.
He began working on the set of Coronation Street when it first aired on December 9, 1960, and is the highest earning member of the drama, earning a reported £250,000 a year.
The actor holds the Guinness World Record for the longest serving TV soap star in the world, and was made an OBE in the Queen’s New Year Honours list in December 2021 for his services to drama and charity
In March, Mr Roache was told he had three months to pay off nearly £550,000 or be declared bankrupt by the High Court. Pictured here as Ken Barlow in Coronation Street
His financial problems date back to the 1990s when he ended up bankrupt after suing The Sun for libel for calling him ‘boring Ken Barlow’.
Mr Roache won the case but was judged to have wasted court time with the lawsuit and was awarded only £50,000 – the amount that the paper had offered him to settle out of court.
The Coronation Street star was left with huge legal bills which he compounded with the decision to sue his lawyers over the case, landing him in up to £600,000 of debt.