Coronation Street fans might not be able to see their favourite legendary characters such as Ken Barlow and Rita Tanner for up to a whole year.
The ITV soap's older actors look set to be banned from filming for 12 months for their own safety.
This comes as Corrie prepares to resume filming next month as the country comes out of lockdown amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The new measures, which are a precaution amid fears that there will be a second surge in infections during the winter, will see stars such as Bill Roache, 88, and Sue Nicholls, 76, written out until spring 2021.
A source told The Sun : "It’s a huge risk to remove some of Corrie’s biggest stars, but far riskier to allow them on set.
“In one respect, it’s much simpler to focus on the storylines involving younger actors for whom returning to filming is less of a risk."
They added that it is a "nightmare" for producers because such a large proportion of the cast are older and currently have big storylines.
Mirror TV has contacted ITV for comment.
Earlier this week, Corrie boss Iain MacLeod confirmed that coronavirus would be reflected in the storylines.
Speaking to the Mirror Online and other news outlets yesterday, Iain revealed that they had considered continuing to film the soap in "parallel universe".
However they decided against doing so because the soap would no longer "reflect modern Britain".
He said: "While the virus will exist in Coronation Street, we were keen that it wouldn't dominate every single storyline and every single scene.
"It will be there, you will be able to see evidence of it in the way people behave - hand washing protocols, the way businesses are run will be tweaked to put more takeaways and the like."
*Coronation Street airs Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 7.30pm on ITV
