A FORMER Clitheroe schoolboy is setting teenage hearts a flutter on the famous cobbles of Coronation Street.

Lucien Laviscount, 16, from Read, plays the role of Ben Richardson, the first boyfriend of Sophie Webster, who wins the approval of her mum and dad Sally and Kevin.

He left Ribblesdale High School last year with 10 GCSEs and started filming on the show before Christmas, making his first appearance as swimming team star Ben Richardson earlier this month.

The character Ben is also an evangelical Christian who inspires Sophie, played by Brooke Vincent, to find God.

The pair take a pledge of celibacy as a commitment to her new faith.

Lucien is a protégé of Carol Godby’s theatre workshop, in Bury, which has trained stars such as the Royle Family’s Ralf Little and Coronation Street’s Fiz, played by Jenny McAlpine, of Rossendale.

Lucien has already been in teen comedy show, Life Bites on the Disney Channel, Grange Hill and the film Johnny and the Bomb, based on the Terry Pratchett book, alongside Zoe Wanamaker.

Having longed to be an actor since he was two, it is Lucien’s ambition to make it big in Hollywood.

He said: “I wouldn’t know what to do if I didn’t act.

“I am quite a shy person and, it might sound strange but, by doing acting I can be someone else.”

Lucien has also modelled David Beckham’s DB 07 clothing range.