Maggie Jones 'still on road to recovery'

Coronation Street actress Maggie Jones is continuing to recover following her recent health scare, an ITV spokesman has announced.

The veteran soap star, who plays Blanche Hunt on the Weatherfield drama, was said to be in a 'critical' condition after being rushed to hospital for life-saving surgery earlier this month. However, producers later said that the 75-year-old was starting to improve.

An ITV representative has now told the Manchester Evening News that Jones is "continuing in the same direction" as she continues to be cared for at Hope Hospital in Salford.

Full details of Jones's emergency operation have not been made public. It is thought that she was taken off life support last week after showing her first signs of improvement.

The actress's co-star Michael Le Vell, better known as Kevin Webster on the show, recently revealed that Jones has "all her naughtiness back". Bill Tarmey (Jack Duckworth), Alison King (Carla Gordon), Gray O'Brien (Tony Gordon) and David Neilson (Roy Cropper) have also offered public well wishes to their colleague.