The earliest surviving episode of ITV soap Crossroads has been found and is to be screened online.

Experts spotted the 1965 tape of the show in an unmarked tin in an archive.

They found it while looking for early episodes of the Birmingham-based drama for a DVD they were compiling.

Most early episodes of the soap, which started in 1964 on ex-channel ATV, were taped over.  Now ITV.com will show the 'lost episode' online from Friday.  Tim Beddows at Network DVD said:  "The discovery has wowed fans.  It's the earliest example."