THE cast of Coronation Street enjoyed some much-needed down time as they enjoyed a slew of boozy drinks in the sunshine.

The stars of the ITV soap opera were out in force in MediaCity in Salford as they hit up their favourite bar for evening drinks in the UK heatwave.

Just a stone’s throw from the show’s set, stars including Samia Longchambon and Julia Goulding let their hair down for the mid-week soiree.

Maria Connor actress Samia shared a series of snaps from the evening do as she cuddled up to her co-stars.

In one photo, she posed alongside her on-screen husband, Mikey North, as she threw her arm around him whilst tightly clutching onto her drink.

Poking fun at their characters, she added the caption: “Gaz and Maz on the razz.”

An hour later, Samia shared another snap of her posing with Shona Platt star Julia and recently axed cast member, Farrel Hagerty.

Samia kept things low-key in a loose-fitting white top and a pair of light blue denim jeans.

The outing was a chance for the actress to blow off some steam after being at the centre of a backstage cast war.

Alongside co-star Sair Khan, the duo have ruffled feathers backstage after show bosses allowed them to accept a series of lucrative offers for Instagram work.

The cast are famously outlawed from accepting paid promotions online but Samia and Sair have been allowed to rake in thousands extra after bosses approved a slew of brand deals.

Infuriatingly, many of the cast had similar partnerships knocked back with one actress telling The Sun that it had created high tension among the show’s set.

They told us  “It’s one rule for the polished PR favourites, and another for the rest of us.

“If you’re not part of the golden circle, forget it.

“They wouldn’t let most of us even do a teeth-whitening collaboration, meanwhile Samia’s out there posing with pastries.

“It’s a total p**s take.

“We’ve been told time and time again: no ads, no endorsements — not so much as a candle on Instagram.

“But then Samia pops up in a full-blown promo for M&S and everyone’s just supposed to pretend it’s normal?

“People are keeping quiet as they don’t want to rock the boat or get the boot but there’s a lot of anger.

“Why are some allowed to cash in while the rest of us struggle?”

According to internal documents, outside work must be pre-approved, must not conflict with ITV’s commercial partners or damage an actor’s character’s integrity.