Actress and comedian Caroline Aherne has died after a battle with cancer, her publicist has said.

The BAFTA-winning writer and actress, 52, was best known for Mrs Merton, The Fast Show and The Royle Family.

She was also the narrator of the Channel 4 reality series Gogglebox.

In 2014, she spoke of her fight against lung cancer while attending an event in Manchester joking about it being the third time she had faced the disease.