Vernon Tomlin Vernon Tomlin is a fictional character of the ITV1 soap opera Coronation Street , portrayed by Ian Reddington . Character background . A musician in a pub and club band ( The Rock Rhythm Rascals ) , he dated Liz McDonald until she dumped him after finding out he made a pass at singer and barmaid Michelle Connor . Vernon left the Street for a couple of months , but returned to try and charm Liz again in November 2006 , just after Liz ' s son Steve had bought the Rovers . Storylines . Vernon became the new potman and cellarman , although he was shamelessly work - shy and often looked for excuses not to work . He proposed to Liz in 2007 , unaware that she was enjoying a fling with brewery delivery man Derek , until Derek confessed all in July of the same year . Vernon was prepared to leave Weatherfield , but returned after Liz made a Motown compilation tape which she gave to Lloyd Mullaney to play in his cab en route to the airport . Vernon eventually relented and returned to Liz . The couple were due to tie the knot in a special New Year episode which was complicated by Jim McDonald ' s return , when Jim , having had everyone think that he ' d turned over a new leaf , savagely beat Vernon up at the back of the Rovers , and also hitting Bob Castle , the keyboard player with the band . Steve jumped in and stopped the beating , and seeing his father hadn ' t changed , sent him away for good , A battered and bloodied Vernon finally married Liz at the Registry office on 31st December 2007 . In January 2008 , Vernon and Liz returned happily married , and Vernon , having already overseen the redecoration of the Rovers , was planning his next project . In March 2008 , Vernon came up with the idea of a smoking shelter , an area at the back of the Rovers for people to smoke in . He recruited two of his friends , musicians / builders , Vince and Don , to work on it , although Liz wasn ' t happy when they did more slacking than working , and then left the shelter unfinished when they got a cruise ship gig . Several weeks later , Vernon discovered Vince and Don needed a drummer for the gig and managed to get a ticket for Liz . However , Liz decided she couldn ' t leave the Rovers and Vernon went alone . Liz privately admitted to friend Deirdre Barlow she had made a mistake marrying Vernon . It was announced on 27 April 2008 that the character would leave the show in September 2008 which would follow Liz and Vernon breaking up in June . In June 2008 , Liz and Vernon separated after Liz got cold feet about purchasing a nightclub and their marriage . Vernon then moved out of the Rovers and was offered a spare room in Lloyd ' s flat above Street Cars . After seeing Roy Cropper short - staffed at Roy ' s Rolls , Vernon offered to help him out . Liz and Vernon then decided to just be mates . At the start of September 2008 , Vernon tried to woo Liz back by singing her a song , ( Don ' t Fall Into ) The Mason ' s Arms , alluding to Liz and Harry Mason ' s near - fling . Media website Digitalspy branded the song the character sang as a ' stroke of genius ' . Departure . In September 2008 , Vernon discovered that a record label were interested in his song . However , his happiness was short - lived after he saw Liz and Harry in a passionate clinch in the back room of the Rovers , dashing all hopes of a reconciliation . On the following day , Vernon decided to leave Weatherfield . He made several more attempts to convince Liz to go with him , however , she was more interested in a planned date with Harry Mason that evening . Eventually , Vernon left Liz a note telling her he would park his van at 8pm and stay there until 8 : 20pm . Liz had Deirdre read the note to her and was then let down by Harry who took wife Clarissa out instead . At 8 : 20 , Vernon said a final goodbye to Lloyd and drove out of Weatherfield , Liz was too late to catch him . Vernon sent Liz a " Christmas for One " CD for Christmas 2008 , and a card for their first wedding anniversary . Vernons parting words of wisdom to Lloyd were ' Fate Decides '