Tony Warren, creator of 'Coronation Street', dies at 79

London: Creator and writer of the world's longest running TV soap opera "Coronation Street", Tony Warren, passed away, aged 79.

The news was announced on the official "Coronation Street" Twitter account. An ITV spokesperson later said that Warren died on Tuesday night "surrounded by his loving friends after a short illness", reports hollywoodreporter.com.

Born Anthony McVay Simpson near Manchester in 1936, Warren first adopted his stage name as a child actor, becoming a regular on BBC radio. 

At the age of 23 in 1959, he conceived the idea for the famous creation. Reportedly, he was on a sleeper train when he conceived the idea of becoming a producer.

He had said he had a "wonderful idea" about a "little back street with a pub at one end and a shop at the other, and all the lives of the people there, just ordinary things" -- the concept of "Coronation Street", which eventually became the most watched show in Britain and changed the face of British TV. In 2010, it became the world's longest running TV soap opera in production.

Warren won a lifetime achievement award from the Royal Television Society and in 1994, he was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire.