Dennis was the driver of the coach hired by Don Brennan for the Coronation Street outing to Blackpool in August 1988. Alf Roberts met Dennis waiting by the coach when he drove to Blackpool to track down Audrey and Malcolm Reid. When the trip back was held up by four absentee passengers, Dennis assumed they were young people, but in fact it was pensioners Phyllis Pearce and Arnold Swift who ended up missing the coach due to their tardiness. Percy Sugden blamed Dennis for the couple being left behind, accusing the driver of setting off like a bat out of hell.