“My rescue puppies a are a godsend”

CoronationStreet star Daniel Brocklebank reveals how his two rescue puppies became lifesavers as he spent lockdown at home alone

Daniel, who is single, spent lockdown alone at his Manchester home and says his pets proved a lifeline during the three months when he was unable to meet up with anyone else.

“My two wonderful little dogs kept me equally sane and insane – they were an absolute godsend,” he smiles. “I’m single and I don’t have kids and it’s lovely to have something else to think about. It’s nice to have other heartbeats in the house.”

Daniel adopted his first puppy, Colin, from the Dogs Trust charity in 2018. He was one of a litter of six that had been smuggled into the UK from Hungary, as part of the lucrative but illegal puppy trade, travelling over 1,000 miles in horrendous conditions.

“They found him at the border with about 30 other pups in a crate and most of them were dead,” Daniel says sadly. “Now he’s the coolest little dude ever,” he adds proudly.

Travelling to work every day with Daniel, Colin proved an instant hit with the rest of the CoronationStreet cast. “I’d come off set and half the time he wouldn’t be there because Maureen Lipman would be walking him round the car park. He was the cast dog for the first year of his life!” he laughs.

Then in February – just before lockdown – the Dogs Trust phoned to say they’d intercepted another litter of smuggled puppies, this time from Poland, and would Daniel like to take a second one? “It really pulled on the heartstrings; I went in and there was Jean,” he recalls fondly.

Daniel grew up in the countryside close to Stratford upon Avon and his family had seven dogs. “Because we were on a farm, they had the most amazing life running around, so it’s heartbreaking when dogs are mistreated,” he says.