Emmerdale's Shirley reveals sight illness

Emmerdale star Shirley Stelfox has revealed that she's suffering from a condition that is slowly destroying her eyesight.

Shirley, who plays busybody Edna Birch in the Yorkshire soap, has been diagnosed with bilateral amblyopia.

Says the actress: "I've had it since I was little and it's just a question of learning to live with it. It means that I can't drive and, because my character doesn't wear glasses, I struggle to see very far when I'm doing scenes.

"I am all right as long as I know where everything has been left in the studio. If somebody moves something, that's when the problems start and I can trip over a camera lead.

"If I'm addressing somebody who is standing at the back of the Woolpack bar, I struggle to see the expression on their face and have to remember how they looked from rehearsal."