From the Ogdens to the Battersbys, with the Duckworths somewhere in between, Coronation Street has a long tradition of ramshackle families.

Think of Stan Ogden in his string vest, poring over the racing pages, or wife Hilda in curlers, arms folded across her pinnie as she gossips over the backyard wall. Think of Jack Duckworth sneaking to the Rovers for a swift pint while Vera rustles up egg and chips, or Les Battersby blasting out his Status Quo records to the dismay of his long-suffering neighbours. Now it’s the turn of the Windass clan to cause mayhem on the Street. We knew they were trouble when they refused to pay that nice Joe McIntyre for their new kitchen. The family’s first appearance, last month, saw them kick up a fuss when kitchen fitter Joe and his apprentice David Platt confronted them over a bounced cheque. David later broke into their home and smashed up the kitchen units – not a wise move by the demon teen – and since then there’s been tit-for-tat feuding between the Windass and Platt camps. So imagine the Platts’ horror when their arch enemies arrived on the Street in a tatty old van and pulled up next door… It looks like the Windasses are here to stay – and Shipley actor Steve Huison is delighted.

Steve plays Eddie who, along with wife Anna, wayward son Gary, and Eddie’s shady brother Len makes up the Street’s new family from Hell. “They’re a great bunch of characters – although I wouldn’t want to live next door to them!” says Steve. “They’re from that long Coronation Street tradition of families who never quite get it right. Eddie thinks he rules the roost, but he’s not as hard as he thinks he is. He’s one step behind Gary and Len.”

Shuffling around on crutches with a tab end attached to his lower lip and stringy hair falling around his shoulders, Eddie is a scruffy addition to the Street. Steve reveals he based him on a fusion of local characters.

“He’s a conglomeration of three different people I know,” he says. “You have to find some truth in a character to play them properly. Eddie is always up to scams. The crutches haven’t been explained yet, but you may notice he’s not consistent with them.

“The family has been constantly on the move; they used to live in Spain, probably because they had to leave the country. Why they left Spain is another story – we’ll learn more about them in time. We film six weeks ahead so we’re into next year’s storylines now. We work on three blocks of filming at a time. There’s a lot of jumping back and forth.”

Steve is enjoying his new role, even though he admits he’s not a Corrie fan.

“I don’t watch television,” he explains. “But I’m well aware of the show’s quality. It’s a lovely show to work on; it has a 48-year tradition of high standards. It gets the best out of people. The writing is a joy for an actor – there’s always a mix of serious and quirky storylines. It’s different to anything I’ve done before.”

This isn’t the first time Steve has worked on the Street. In 2003 he played Andy Morgan, a thug who terrorised the Nelson family. And a few years before that, he played an estate agent who measured up the cafe, then owned by Gail and Alma.

Steve has also appeared in The Royle Family and The Royal Today, filmed at St Luke’s Hospital in Bradford. His best-known role was in hit 1997 movie The Full Monty, written by Keighley’s Simon Beaufoy.

Steve played Lomper, an awkward, lonely steel mill security guard who tries to commit suicide after losing his job. Joining a stripping group made up of redundant steelworkers gives Lomper confidence and optimism.

Steve and the rest of the cast were riding high on the film’s success, working their tuxedos at premieres all over the world, but he says he knew it would come to an end eventually. “I enjoyed it while it lasted, but I stayed grounded, I knew I’d have to go back to real life once all the red carpet stuff was over,” he says.

Through his Shipley-based Shoestring Theatre Company, Steve holds workshops for aspiring actors.

“We cover things like camera work, improvisation, voice skills and audition techniques, and we look at the reality of life as an actor,” says Steve. “You have to be prepared for lean times. Between acting work I’ve had to look for other work; I’ve worked with sheltered housing and I’ve pulled pints. I’ve had to take all sorts of jobs. It’s all good experience for acting.”

Shoestring specialises in producing dramas raising awareness of mental health issues. Previous productions include Reading The Signs, tackling the discrimination suffered by people with mental illness, and Fifty Feet And Falling, based on the diaries of a friend of Steve’s who suffered depression and took his own life.

Shoestring’s next production, to be staged on January 30 at the Carriageworks in Leeds, is called That’s Not The Way To Do It. “It’s based on Punch and Judy. It’s about personality disorder,” says Steve. “It’s written by a talented Todmorden writer, Clare Shaw, and it features actors and puppets.

“I’m in the middle of designing the set and puppets! It’s a thought-provoking drama. One-in-four people is affected by mental health problems, but there remains a stigma. We always encourage debate after performances.”

Coronation Street is on Mondays and Fridays at 7.30pm and 8.30pm, and Wednesdays at 7.30pm. For more about the Shoestring Theatre Company, visit the website shoestringtheatre.org.uk