Coronation Street star Julie Hesmondhalgh has announced that she is to take a short break from the soap.

The actress, who plays Hayley Cropper in the Weatherfield drama, is to star in a new stage play Black Roses at Manchester's Royal Exchange, according to the Coronation Street Blog.

Hesmondhalgh is to take two months off to tread the boards.

She wrote on twitter: "Right that's me done. Bye bye weatherfield til October! #bitoftheatre #sicksinmouth."

Black Roses: The Killing of Sophie Lancaster is about a young student who was murdered for dressing differently.

Hesmondhalgh will play Sophie's mum Sylvia.

The play is a response to the death of 20-year-old student Sophie, who was beaten to death in 2008 because she dressed in a gothic style.

Julie and her husband, Shameless writer Ian Kershaw, have previously been involved in charity work with the Sophie Lancaster Foundation, set up by Sophie's mother Sylvia Lancaster in her daughter's memory.

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