Coronation Street producer Phil Collinson is to step down from the role and be replaced by Stuart Blackburn.

Blackburn is currently producer of Emmerdale and will take up the post on Coronation Street in January.

Collinson will remain with ITV, working with ITV Studios creative director Kieran Roberts on the development of new dramas.

Blackburn said: “I’m in the very privileged position of producing Emmerdale’s hour-long live episode to celebrate the programmes’s 40^th birthday and I get to produce Coronation Street too. Emmerdale is a very special programme to me, as I was born and brought up in West Yorkshire. Coronation Street also has a special place in my heart, as I believe passionately in story telling.”

Collinson, who joined Coronation Street in 2010, said it had been “an honour” to produce the soap, but added “drama can only stay at the top of its game if the producer is re-energised every two to three years”.

John Whiston, creative director of soaps at ITV Studios, praised Collinson for filling Coronation Street with “character, intrigue and traditional Coronation Street wit”.

Speaking about Blackburn, he said: “Stuart combines a real delight in and respect for the world of soap with a deep understanding of the nitty gritty of story telling.”

ITV said it would now begin looking for a new producer for Emmerdale.