Des Barnes is a fictional character from the English ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by Philip Middlemiss.

Des had been building a boat in the back garden for years, and the date of the launch coincided with Steph leaving him.

When Terry Duckworth (Nigel Pivaro) was in prison, Des offered his back garden to his ex-wife Lisa (Caroline Milmoe) for their son Tommy to play in.

Vera was furious, wrongfully accusing Des of breaking up her son’s marriage and referring to him as a bookie's runner.

Tommy went to live with Lisa's parents in Blackpool, but Des still saw him when they brought him to Weatherfield to visit Vera and Jack (Bill Tarmey).

Their friendship turned sour when Des started making offensive jokes about his family's criminality and asked Andy to leave.

They had brief meetings during their lunch breaks as Claire was trying to get her daughter Becky (Emily Aston) used to the idea of her mother dating another man.

She threw his trousers out of the window and pushed Des out of the front door in full view of Claire, Rita Sullivan (Barbara Knox) and Mavis Wilton (Thelma Barlow).

He rented his house out to Angie Freeman (Deborah McAndrew), bought himself a new boat and left, with Derek Wilton (Peter Baldwin) giving him a fond farewell.

Des's character was, during his time on the soap, described as "the self-pitying Geordie of Coronation Street who hit his boss when he found him in bed with his girlfriend".