When Coronation Street star Pat Phoenix had to seek help a Sunderland dealership after a breakdown

He was working on the service reception area at the Mill Garages Audi/Mercedes Benz Dealership in Fulwell when a call came in from a breakdown service.

He was told to expect two TV celebrities with their broken down motor.

Terry said: “To my surprise, when the vehicle was recovered to our workshop, the couple turned out to be Pat Phoenix and actor husband Alan Browning. They were both well known Coronation Street actors and of course Alan was a Sunderland born and bred lad.”

“I was assigned to look after them, whilst they were at the dealership.

“I remember them being rather flustered. We gave them a nice cup of tea to settle them down and they were given an office to relax and for their privacy.”

The couple’s car could not be fixed immediately but the dealers arranged a hire car so Pat and Alan could continue their journey to Newcastle.

Terry added: “When our CEO Mr Mike Rollings got wind of the couple’s predicament, he hurriedly arranged the use of one of our new Audi demonstrators for them to use until their car was fixed.”

The couple ‘expressed their gratitude to the staff and Mill Garages for the kindness and help shown in their hour of need from the canny Sunderland folk’, said Terry.

Pat played Elsie Tanner in Coronation Street from the soap’s very first days until she quit in 1984. Alan Browning played the character of Alan Howard in the soap from 1969 to 1973.

But that wasn’t Terry’s only brush with the stars. He said: “When I worked at the dealership in 1973, it was the epic year when Sunderland won the FA Cup by beating the mighty Leeds.

“Mill Garages presented Captain Bobby Kerr with a brand new white with red interior Audi car for his momentous achievement. I have met Bobby on numerous occasions and was always eternally grateful for his new Audi.”

Terry, 75, is from Hastings Hill and worked in the motor industry for 45 years. Three of them were with Cowies, another 28 with Mill Garages and 14 with Reg Vardy.

Terry told us of his meeting with celebrities after we shared a post on the Facebook page called Wearside Echoes, which is the Sunderland Echo’s social media page specialising in nostalgia.

We asked our Wearside Echoes followers which celebrities they had met. What a list we got!

Ali Hill met Orlando Bloom on a ferry, Owen Newsome chatted to Sean Bean about football, and Roni Sturgess took the order for the Beatles when they called in at Thomasettis in Sunderland.

Mark Quinn met John Hurt at Gatwick Airport, and Catherine Geddes chatted to Del Shannon at Wetherells night spot in Sunderland.

Which celebrities have you had an unexpected meeting with? Did you bump into a rock star into a restaurant, a politician in a petrol station or a sports star in a store?

Tell us more by emailing [email protected]