Coronation Street star Anne Kirkbride only joined social networking site Twitter a few weeks ago, but she’s already been plagued by ‘trolls’ who have bombarded her with vile messages and insults.

Anne, who of course plays Deirdre Barlow, responded furiously to one nasty message by branding the poster a “t**t”.

Her response came after the Twitter user wrote, “Your skin is the exact kind of leather i want for my sofa.”

Furious Anne retorted, “How sweet of you to say. And you’re just the kind of tweeter I want for my collection of blocked t***s xxxxx.”

In May, soon after she joined Twitter, Anne was angered by a comment which read, “[You have] the best neck in soap”…

Anne replied that it was a “sensitive subject”, adding, “People have been blocked for less.”

Anne of course beat Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma after being diagnosed with cancer in 1993. She learned of the diagnosis on the day she attended her mother Enid’s funeral.

The 47-year-old star was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma on the day she buried her mother Enid, who died of cancer in 1993.

When her potentially fatal condition was diagnosed, Anne was in constant pain and as a result of the chemotherapy she had to try to beat the disease, she lost all her hair, but she bravely continued to film scenes on Corrie.

At the time, Anne told the Daily Mail, “Life became unbearable, absolutely intolerable.

“I wanted to die, I just wanted to die because you just don’t want to go on living feeling like that.

“But you’re frightened that if you die you might still feel like that on the other side. There’s no escape.

“It was worse than the cancer in a way because that was going to be over.

“I knew it was bad but I knew at the end of it I was going to be better. But this … this was just so frightening.

“I just didn’t know if I was ever going to be better. I just couldn’t see a way out of it.”

Thankfully, Anne did fight the disease, and won the battle, but of course, it’s left lingering worry that it may return.

So to those who find it amusing to post unpleasant messages to Anne, I say this; maybe bear in mind that one day, it could be you, or your sister, your mum or someone close to you who lives with the aftermath of cancer.

Karma is a bitch. Best not to poke it with a stick.