ACTOR Peter Adamson's final exit was a sad last chapter in a success story which propelled him to national stardom.

Adamson (72), who lived in Bury for more than 30 years, died a virtual recluse at a hospital in Lincoln where he had been treated for cancer.

Forever remembered for his role as tough, beer-swilling Len Fairclough in Granada TV's Coronation Street, Adamson never recovered from the collapse of his career in the mid-80s.

After being cleared of indecently assaulting two young girls at Haslingden Baths in 1983, Adamson was ignominiously sacked by his TV bosses after selling his story to a newspaper for a reported £110,000.

His career in tatters, the actor was forced to scour the country in search of work.

Things went from bad to worse in 1991 when he was declared bankrupt. Before his death, he had been reduced to living on benefits.

The tragedy of his final years contrasted sharply with the success and popularity he had achieved as one of Britain's best-known and highest-paid television stars. Born in Liverpool, Adamson came to Bury in 1950 with the Fortesque Players who produced their plays at the old Bury Hippodrome.

He was soon one of the best known members of the company and found himself nodding "good morning" to everyone in the street.

Three years later, he married local girl Jean Duncan, a weaver, and decided to make his home in the town.

The couple had two children, Michael and Greig, and over the years lived at several addresses in the area, including Andrew Street, Heywood Street and Walmersley Road, Bury, and Longsight Road in Holcombe Brook. Like many other actors, he began his stage career completely by accident. His mother, an amateur actor in his native Liverpool, persuaded him as a young boy to audition for their latest production.

He went very much against his will and got the part that set him on the road to Coronation Street.

After appearing in a few local productions, Adamson made a decision that changed his life. Instead of going into industry as he planned, he decided to become a professional actor and enrolled at the London School of Dramatic Art.

But he couldn't take his studies seriously and left after a month. He then went "on the road", playing in repertory and eventually joined the Fortesque Players in Bury.

Adamson later played leading parts in many classical productions, including Hamlet and Chekov's plays.

But his big break came in the early 1960s when he landed the role of Len Fairclough in The Street. It brought him national fame and he became a familiar face wherever he travelled, home and abroad.

But following the court case, and the subsequent decision to sell his story, he was axed from Corrie after 23 years. He was written out when his character suffered a fatal heart attack.

Mrs Jean Adamson died in September, 1984, at the age of 52 after a long battle against crippling arthritis. Her husband and son Greig were at her bedside at Wrightington Hospital in Wigan when she died.

She was born in the Prettywood area of Bury. Later, an inquest heard she had died from septicaemia contracted during a holiday in the West Indies. But her condition was worsened by her severe arthritis which she had suffered since she was a teenager. The coroner recorded a verdict of death by natural causes.