Carole Burns Carole Burns was a divorcee who moved into 41 Oakwood Road , Weatherfield in 1988 . The house was part of Carole ' s settlement in the divorce , which occurred after her husband of ten years left her for a 19 - year - old . Soon after moving in , Carole hired Bradley Securities to install a burglar alarm at the property . While doing the work at the house , Alan Bradley brazenly flirted with Carole , telling her she ' d be secure by putting herself " in the hands of Alan Bradley " . Martin Platt ended up doing the lion ' s share of the work while Alan had tea with Carole in the house . Alan continued to visit to Carole on the pretext of working , and the couple started an affair . In October , one of Carole ' s neighbours , Joanne Cresswell , reported to Alan ' s daughter Jenny Bradley that she ' d seen Alan and Carole kissing . Through Jenny , Rita Fairclough found out the truth , which was confirmed when she saw Alan ' s van parked outside Carole ' s house . When Rita confronted him with the truth , Alan offered no apologies or justification for his actions , blaming Rita for being cold to him and forcing him to look elsewhere for affection . Carole was delighted when Alan turned up at her doorstep , pleased that she now had him to herself . While separated from Rita , Alan ' s top priority was to hold onto his security business . When Carole found out that he ' d met with Rita , she feared that Rita wanted him back but Alan told her that " all - business " Rita had ordered him out of the Builder ' s Yard . He also confided in her how his relationship with Jenny had been affected by events but assured her that Jenny wasn ' t the type to turn up at the house baying for Carole ' s blood . However , painting Rita as a manipulative money - grabber , Alan moved out of Carole ' s house and into digs , telling Carole that it was to stop Rita using her to get back at him . With the goal of setting up his own shop , with the position of Head of Sales ( ie . counter assistant ) promised to Carole , Alan tried to secure a loan but the bank turned him down due to him not owning his own house . Alan broached the idea of moving back in with Carole and applying for the loan jointly , but Carole dismissed the idea as a financial risk . Immediately thereafter , Alan returned to Rita , explaining his decision to Carole as being entirely for Jenny ' s sake , and promising to keep on seeing her . However , the affair was effectively over at that point and Alan avoided Carole ' s calls thereafter . In February 1989 , two months after leaving Carole , Alan was preparing to open his new shop in Curzon Street , having succeeded in obtaining funding for the operation by borrowing against 7 Coronation Street in Len Fairclough ' s name , without Rita ' s knowledge . Stung by Alan dropping her , Carole began phoning the shop , but kept getting Martin Platt , who covered for his boss . Seeing the grand opening advertised in the " Weatherfield Recorder " , Carole turned up at the event , where she told Alan what she thought of him for taking her money and making her look like a mug . Finally meeting the infamous Rita , Carole informed her counterpart that Alan had only returned to her for her money . However , Alan having got the loan by nefarious means , Rita protected him , telling Carole that the shop had nothing to do with her . A dejected Carole called Alan a bastard and slapped him , after which she left the shop and his life .