Coronation Street's Les Battersby has told "corporate fat cats" to keep their hands off the Cream of Manchester in the fight to save the city's Boddington's brewery.
Bruce Jones, who plays Battersby in the soap, is lending his support to save the brewery, threatened with closure next year.
Belgian company Interbrew is planning to close the 226-year-old Strangeways Brewery in February, saying it was losing sales and was not sustain-able.
It plans to brew the beer in south Wales.
At Manchester Town Hall, union leaders revealed that the 55 workers at the brewery had voted by a 90 per cent majority for a 48-hour strike on Monday.
Mr Jones said at a Press conference at the town hall: "I am here to support Boddington's Brewery. Everyone in Manchester was weaned on Boddies beer.
"Every man in Manchester, when you left school and started drinking, you were taken out for a pint of Boddies.
"They are going to take one of the most famous breweries away from us."
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