Coronation Street spoilers: Chesney Brown left gobsmacked by unexpected offer from Linda Hancock

Whenever Linda Hancock (Jacqueline Leonard) is around in Coronation Street, she’s usually meddling with the way Chesney (Sam Aston) and Gemma (Dolly-Rose Campbell) deal with their family – and more particularly Linda’s grandson Joseph (William Flanagan).

Linda has always felt that Joseph gets pushed out now that the family has expanded to include his quad siblings. Previously she horrified Chesney by suggesting that Joseph should come and live with her in Portugal.

Usually Linda’s interventions are well-meaning and she truly wants what’s best for Joseph, but she doesn’t realise that she’s trampling on the sensitivities of his parents when she suggests they’re not doing a good enough job of raising the boy.

It wasn’t long ago that Linda attempted to contact a custody solicitor about Joseph and the quads.

Bernie (Jane Hazlegrove)’s arrival back home from prison put paid to those ideas, and the family have remained wary of Linda since.

Upcoming episodes see Linda once again getting involved in big decisions about Joseph life, and this time it’s his education that’s set her thinking.

Joseph has missed some school recently after being ill with what turned out to be Lyme disease. In the wake of this, Linda reckons that he’d benefit from a move to private school Oakhill.

Chesney points out that, even if he thought this was a good idea, there’s no way they would ever be able to afford the fees.

He’s stunned when Linda says it’s not a problem – she’ll pay for everything.

When Gemma sees the Oakhill prospectus in the house she’s furious and stuffs it in a drawer. She tells Chesney he needs to tell Linda to stop interfering, and that the idea is a non-starter.

But could Gemma and Chesney be persuaded to change their minds? Paul (Peter Ash) and Dee-Dee (Channique Sterling-Brown) tell Gemma that she needs to put Joseph first. It’s the chance of a lifetime, they tell her.

Is she really prepared to deny Joseph the opportunity of a better education just because she hates his grandmother?