Joanna Lumley has suggested that she is open to returning to Coronation Street in the near future.

The national treasure, 74, had a brief role on the cobbles early in her career, playing the part of Elaine Perkins for eight episodes in 1973.

During the short stint, Elaine became a love interest for a then-33-year-old Ken Barlow (Bill Roache), who fell fast and hard for her but was knocked back when he proposed marriage.

The storyline is now 48 years in the past but Lumley still holds the soap in high regard and told TV Mag that she would go back "in a heartbeat".

"I was invited back about 10 years ago and I said 'Yeah, you bet'," she revealed. "Unfortunately some filming I was doing got in the way and someone else went along and stole his heart instead."

Lumley reunited with Roache on the set of Corrie for the first episode of her new travelogue series Joanna Lumley's Home Sweet Home, available now on the ITV Hub.