Corrie star finds corpse

Actress Samia Smith found the dead man in the back of a vanÂ…

11:30 07 September 2009

A Coronation Street actress has discovered a dead body in the back of a van in Greater Manchester.

Samia Smith, who plays hairdresser Maria Connor in the ITV soap, called police after seeing a 26-year-old dead man in a parked Vauxhall Combi in Sale on Sunday.

The pregnant soap star was with her property developer husband Matthew Smith when they made the find at the junction of Hunston Road and Washway Road.

The couple had gone to investigate a dog's desperate barking from inside the van before seeing the body through the back window of the red Vauxhall Combi.

Greater Manchester Police said they are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death.

A spokeswoman for Coronation Street confirmed Smith made the discovery, but said it was "a police matter".

A Greater Manchester Police spokeswoman said: "Inquiries to establish the circumstances surrounding the man's death are under way.

"His family are in the process of being informed."