Coronation Street actress dies

Maggie Jones (r) with Anne Kirkbride on 'Coronation Street'. File photo / Granada TV

Actress Maggie Jones, who played the acid-tongued Blanche Hunt on television's Coronation Street, has died at the age of 75.

Jones was forced to pull out of filming the British soap opera, which plays three times a week in New Zealand, in October after being admitted to hospital for major surgery. She died on Wednesday morning (UK time) at Salford Royal Hospital, the British Press Association reported.

A show publicist told PA: "Maggie had been making a slow recovery but her condition deteriorated early Wednesday morning and she passed away peacefully in her sleep."

One of the show's stars William Roache (Ken Barlow) led tributes to his late colleague, who first appeared in the soap 35 years ago.

"Maggie was a big part of the Barlow family and a brilliant actress. She was a tower of strength, physically frail but mentally strong as an ox and sharp as someone half her age. She had an amazing dry wit and was as funny if not funnier than Blanche. We were great crossword partners, we sat through Tracy's trial scenes doing the crossword together."

Jones made her TV debut on the show in the early 1960s as a policewoman, and later returned as a shoplifter. More than a decade later she was back to play Blanche.

- NZPA