Coronation Street’s Del Boy character, Pam Hobsworth, will be in a major cliffhanger of a storyline this New Year as her life is left hanging in the balance following an explosion in Jack Duckworth’s pigeon loft.

Pam, who’s played by Kate Anthony, and Darryl Morton – Jonathan Dixon – will have been trying to flog cooking oil which they claim is their own brand of “biofuel”.

However, Jack finds out they’ve been storing the stuff in his pigeon loft and tells them to shift it pronto. When Pam loses the key to the loft, she decides to force the lock off with a drill.

A Corrie source told The Sun: “When Pam comes to move the fuel, sparks fly from the drill and the biofuel catches fire, causing an almighty explosion.

“There are flames and feathers everywhere.”

But because of the fireworks at the Rovers, the rest of the Street’s residents don’t initially notice the explosion.

When the explosion occurs we’ll see Darryl blasted into the air while Pam lies unconscious.

The source added, “Viewers have warmed to her quirky character so they’ll be on tenterhooks to see if she survives. It’s a great cliffhanger to go into 2009 with.”