Corrie's Beverley Callard 'hopeful' of beating depression

Coronation Street actress Beverley Callard has revealed she is "hopeful" of beating her battle with depression.

It was confirmed she would be taking some time off from the ITV soap last month.

The TV star, who has played Liz McDonald for more than 20 years, said it was because the medication she was taking had stopped being manufactured as it made "no profit".

But she said she was now seeing a new doctor and had "got hope!".

The 59-year-old told her Twitter followers: "Had a good day today, things are on the up! Thank you for being there!!!!! X"

She had tweeted earlier that she had "been battling the demons of depression" and thanked fans and fellow stars, including Denise Welch, for their support.

The actress has previously been open about her struggles with mental health.

In 2014, she told Piers Morgan's Life Stories how she had come close to taking her own life "maybe half a dozen times".

She said: "It wasn't a cry for help at all. I'd known for quite a while that I wasn't myself, but I didn't really know what to do about it.

''I was going to work and I was still filming and I didn't really talk to anyone about it and on that day they took me into The Priory in the early hours of the next morning.

"My husband John and my doctor said, I looked like a 100-year-old woman.

"They tried different medications but none of them seemed to work.''