A CELEBRITY soap couple will switch on a city's Christmas lights next month.

Coronation Street's Cilla and Les Battersby, played by Wendi Peters and Bruce Jones, will perform the ceremony in Durham Market Place on Sunday, November 20.

Their characters are due to marry in the soap and the visit may be their first off-screen public appearance after their nuptuals.

Entertainment will start at 1.30pm and will include the Gala Stage School, characters from the Gala Theatre and dancers from Belmont School. At 2pm, Father Christmas will open his grotto, in the Prince Bishops Shopping Centre, with the switch-on, organised by Durham City Forum, at 6pm.

The celebrity couple will also help the winners of the city's Design a Light competition switch on their lights on the Town Hall.

Durham City Forum chairman Richard Toynbee said: "It is sure to be an exciting day in Durham for all the family and we are happy that we have got Wendi and Bruce to help us turn on the lights."

City council leader Fraser Reynolds said: "It has been a great year for the city, with a surge of inward investment that looks set to stay; huge recognition for Durham University and the wonderful gold award we won in this year's Britain in Bloom."

The city council has agreed to provide an extra £58,000 over three years towards the lights display.

* Big Brother winner Anthony Hutton, from Consett, County Durham, will launch the Christmas decorations at Gateshead's MetroCentre.

The event will take place in Exhibition Square, near Woolworths, at 6pm on Monday, November 7.