CORONATION Street's Toyah Battersby is to return to the nation's screens - as a Geordie.

Manchester actress Georgia Taylor will star in a new sitcom that has been likened to Sex and the City.

And she has turned to a Street co-star for help getting to grips with the North-East accent.

Cumbrian-born actress Angela Lonsdale, who plays PC Emma Watts, acted as her speech coach to turn her "ey oops" into "whey ayes".

The pilot for the show, which tells the story of the lives and loves of three Geordie lasses, has the working title Girls Club and will be filmed in Newcastle for Tyne Tees television.

Producer Steve Bowden said: "It's about a group of girls, one of whom works in a nightclub that is not very successful.

"They have to pull together to stop the club from being closed down. But the show is also about their personal lives."

Taylor, who is practising her Geordie twang using a Dictaphone, said: "This is the first time I have been to Newcastle, so I'm looking forward to spending the week filming here to see the area.

"I think this is about the girls' friendship more than about Newcastle.

"It's about them all pulling together and knowing that there's something better out there."

Programme makers Ipso Facto will begin filming at the end of this month.