Liz Dawn reveals extent of her illness

Coronation Street favourite Liz Dawn has spoken about how her work on the soap has been affected by her illness.

The actress, who has played Vera Duckworth on the ITV1 show for 34 years, was diagnosed with chronic lung disease emphysema five years ago. Her symptoms have worsened over the years, but her co-star Bill Tarmey - better known as Vera's long-suffering husband Jack - was one of the only cast members who knew just how much she was struggling on set.

"Everyone's been amazing and kept me going through very difficult times - but only Bill knew the true extent of my suffering as all my scenes were with him," Liz told The Sun.

"The director would tell me to walk across a room and Bill would step in and say: 'No, I'll do the action in this one'. I've done a scene sometimes and struggled to my dressing room afterwards - wondering how on earth I'll ever do another."

Liz admitted that producers were eventually forced to work around her illness. Vera has been spending most of her time at home, and scriptwriters recently came up with a storyline which saw her suffering a sprained ankle.

"It meant I didn't have to move around too much," she explained. "If you think back, Vera's been virtually housebound the last few years."

Dawn announced that she was quitting the Street last month. Tarmey has decided to stick with the soap for the immediate future.