Ex-Coronation Street star Amanda Barrie has admitted that she has been left terrified by the spread of the deadly coronavirus disease.

The 84-year-old - also known for the Carry On movies and Benidorm - is currently in isolation with her wife Hilary Bonner in the countryside in order to avoid COVID-19, which has claimed more than 47,000 lives worldwide to date.

"I'm an old chorus girl and a wartime babe," Barrie told The Mirror. "My childhood memories include being buried in an avalanche of black-market tinned peas while sheltering from bombs under the cellar stairs. Nothing, nothing, comes close to this.

"It isn't easy for any of us. And I'm acutely aware of how lucky I am. We have a house in the country with a big garden. We have space and fresh air. We look out at a landscape that hasn't changed in this time of crisis."

Barrie starred as Mike Baldwin's long-suffering wife Alma in Corrie until 2001, when her character was killed off with cervical cancer.