Former Coronation Street star Maggie Fox has tragically died after a "sudden accident".
The Shameless actress' family are "heartbroken" following her death.
Maggie, also renowned for her work in the theatre, is reported to have passed away surrounded by loved ones.
Further details of the accident have not been revealed.
Maggie played two roles in Coronation Street, most memorably as Ruth Audsley in 2001.
Her other acting roles include Reckless and The Forsyte Saga.
Sue Ryding, Maggie's comedy partner, has revealed the star's family are "in a state of shock" following her sudden death.
She wrote on Facebook "It is with great sadness that I have to announce the death of Maggie Fox, my comedy partner of 40 years and co-Artistic Director of LipService. Maggie passed away yesterday with her family around her."
Sue continued: "Consequently the Spring Tour of Chateau Ghoul has been cancelled. As you can imagine I am completely heartbroken."
Sharing the moment they first met as she paid tribute to her close pal, Sue added: "I met Maggie when we were Drama students at Bristol University in the 1970's. We were in a very serious production of Ibsen's The Lady For the Sea but for some reason the audience was on the floor laughing. A tragedy for Ibsen (he was good at those) but the launch of an epic comedy partnership.
"Our theatre company LipService was officially launched in 1985 and we have written 22 original comedies, touring all over the world, managing to have children in between!
"It's notoriously difficult to present new work in theatre and we are really proud that we managed to do so and to build an audience for it.
"We are still all in a state of shock as this was very sudden following an accident. We had planned a new digital version of Chateau Ghoul which we had already filmed which will be shared with you later in the year in memory of Maggie, plus some live events using the huge amount of digital footage we thankfully have archived.
"Details to be published when have a plan. Thank you for supporting us over all these years, we are so lucky to have such a loyal audience. We do hope you will join us to celebrate her comedy genius later in the year. Sue."
Fans have also paid tribute to the soap star on Twitter.
One person wrote: "Really sorry to hear about the death of Lipservice's Maggie Fox. I know how well loved she is in Manchester in particular. She will be sorely missed."
Another penned: "Incredibly sad to hear this news about the brilliant Maggie Fox. Much love to Sue and their families x"
A third shared: "So sad to hear of the loss of Maggie Fox from Lip Service. A hilarious comedy duo from Manchester. Managed to make us cry with laughter when my sister was so very ill. No mean feat that. RIP Maggie and thanks for the laughs @LipServicetour."
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