Coronation Street star reveals her husband of 47 years died in a freak swimming accident - after jumping into freezing outdoor pool he thought was heated

Actress Carol Royle is in mourning after her husband of 47 years died in a freak swimming pool accident.

Royle, 70, who has appeared on Blake's 7, Dennis Potter's Blackeyes, Endeavour and most recently Coronation Street, announced the news on social media.

Writing on Facebook she said: 'I am desperately sorry to post that we lost my wonderful husband, Julian Spear, today, 9th December.

'Perfectly fit man but jumped into a freezing outdoor pool which he assumed was heated as per usual yesterday, and he developed a sudden massive brain haemorrhage – our hearts are aching.'

She added: 'Married 47 years – known each other 56. Forgive me if I am not on Facebook very much for a while.'

Ms Royle has been playing Anthea Deering in Coronation Street, the mother of Joel, who was murdered in one of the soap's recent plotlines.

She first became famous as the star of the BBC Sitcom Life Without George which ran from 1987 to 1989. She's a familiar face on television, with parts in hit shows including The Professionals, Crossroads and Heartbeat.

Her husband Julian Spear was a musician and himself the son of an actor, Bernard, who had a role in the film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

As Head of Promotions for music company Phonogram, Julian helped break projects with ABC, Soft Cell, Big Country, Dexys Midnight Runners, Tears For Fears, Dire Straits Bon Jovi, Elton John and the Band Aid single ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?' 

From the start of 2016, he went solo with his own company, Julian Spear PR, and recently worked with the likes of Sheryl Crow and Gary Clark Jr.

From the mid 1940s to the 1980s his father Bernard made more than 300 radio broadcasts, appearing in everything from bandleader Henry Hall's Guest Night to Workers' Playtime.

His films included Peter Cook and Dudley Moore's Bedazzled (1967), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) and Barbra Streisand's Yentl (1983). 

His last film appearance came in Sally Potter's The Man Who Cried (2000). 

Back in 1955, he was the first actor to appear live on British commercial TV on the Xavier Cugat Show.

Bernard went on to marry ex-dancer Mary Logan - Marie Lloyd's great niece - in 1949. 

Ms Royle is a long-term campaigner against factory farming and the fur trade and turned vegetarian in 1973.

She recently signed a letter calling for the release of a colony of penguins at the Sea Life London Aquarium. The wildlife charity Freedom for Animals has claimed the penguins have 'no daylight, no fresh air, and just a pitiful pool of a few feet in depth'.

Their open letter argues that the penguins should be moved from their 'small basement' enclosure to a sanctuary.

Sea Life said the gentoo penguin habitat was designed with help from specialist vets and that the welfare of all its animals was of 'paramount importance'.