Former Coronation Street star Hayley Tamaddon has revealed that she has been diagnosed with meningitis after being rushed to hospital last weekend.

Hayley let people know of her situation when she posted on her Instagram story on Tuesday (August 30), of her in a hospital bed hooked up to a drip with the caption: "So.. not the greatest of weekends.."

At the time she didn't elaborate on why she was in hospital, but in a lengthy post shared on Thursday (September 1) on her Instagram she explained what had happened.

She wrote: "Last weekend did not go as planned…and I ended up in hospital with meningitis. I got poorly very quickly. And my temperature wasn't coming down it was going up. The light hurt my eyes and my head felt like it might explode. My neck was stiff and my body ached.

"I rang a family friend Anthony Kearns who is a doctor at Blackpool Hospital A&E department and told him my symptoms and he told me to get to hospital asap.

"I was taken into a cubicle and straightaway the amazing doctor, Dr Karun, said I think this is meningitis, but at that stage, they weren’t sure if it was bacterial or viral. So I was given strong antibiotics through a drip. Then a brain scan and a lumbar puncture confirmed it was viral. And a few days later I was sent home."

Hayley added that she couldn't "thank the doctors and nurses enough" for taking care of her.

The Blackpool Emergency Department replied by saying: "Thank you Hayley for your kind feedback & special mentions. It’s really much appreciated. Get well soon."

Hayley played the character of Andrea Beckett on Coronation Street for 148 episodes between 2013 and 2015.

Additionally, she had a regular role on another ITV soap in Emmerdale prior to that, playing the role of Del Dingle for 213 episodes between 2005 and 2007.