Coronation Street actor John Savident left hospital yesterday after being stabbed in the neck during an attack.
The 62-year-old actor, who plays butcher Fred Elliott, is believed to have been stabbed in his flat in an exclusive three-storey block only 100 yards from the Granada studios in Manchester where the soap is filmed. Mr Savident is a member of the show's cast since 1994.
The actor left Manchester Royal Infirmary 12 hours after being admitted following the incident. Savident looked pale and frail and had a large square bandage covering the front of his throat.
There were smatterings of blood at the entrance to the block of flats and the building itself was sealed off yesterday.
Forensic experts were inside and detectives took away a black bin-liner. Det Chief Insp Mark Webster said a man was in custody and would be interviewed.
A police spokesman said he could not confirm if a robbery had taken place but that was currently under investigation.
A neighbour, Mr David Przepiora (56), an artist who lives on a floor below the actor's one-bedroom flat, said he saw him being taken out in a chair by paramedics before being transferred to a stretcher.
Mr Przepiora said he had heard a garage door being opened with a mechanical pushbutton mechanism about three times at about 3 a.m.
"I saw a young man in a jacket and thought nothing about it," he said. "He kept closing the front door and going round to the garage. The third time, I thought it was suspicious. I was about to ring the police and there they were."