Good grief as June visits Corrie

VETERAN actress June Whitfield has been signed up for a short stint on Coronation Street to play Blanche Hunt's grieving friend at her funeral.

Whitfield, 84, said she will head to Manchester on Tuesday to start filming.

She was full of praise for the Coronation Street cast, saying: "I admire them all. I think they have an amazing schedule and I don't know how they do it.

"I only hope I don't let them down."

A spokeswoman for the soap said: "We felt it fitting to have someone of June's calibre be involved in Maggie's swansong."