The UK government is keen for 'Coronation Street' and 'Emmerdale' to resume filming as soon as possible.

Coronation Street

Coronation Street

Production on all soaps has been halted due to the coronavirus pandemic, but ITV's chief executive Carolyn McCall has claimed the government wants to get filming back underway as soon as possible once it is safe to do so.

Speaking to Broadcast, she said: "ITV's role is to inform people but also entertain and engage them - and that is vital at the moment.

"The government is very keen for us to bring back the soaps as soon as we can, while observing the social distancing measures."

Potential measures to ensure a return to set may include one-way only staircases, or Perspex screens surrounding editing stations.

It's said ITV are looking into a plan to allow production to resume, despite the current restrictions in place.

Both 'Emmerdale' and 'Corrie' are on breaks amid the ongoing health crisis, with episodes of each show being rationed out three times a week.

In a previous statement, a channel spokesperson said: "ITV has sadly taken the decision to suspend production of the soaps Coronation Street and Emmerdale with effect from Monday 23 March.

"We've been doing our best to carry on filming, whilst adhering to the Government's latest health guidelines, to ensure we've episodes of both soaps airing on ITV until at least the early summer.

"However, the health and well-being of the production teams, actors, crew and their families is of paramount importance to us and we now feel that the time has come to stop filming.

"We'd like to thank our viewers for their support and hope they continue to enjoy both soaps in the coming months."