In pictures: Anne Kirkbride, Coronation Street's Deirdre

Anne Kirkbride, who played Deirdre Barlow in ITV soap Coronation Street since 1972, has died at the age of 60.

Here is a look at some memorable moments from her career.

Anne Kirkbride joined Coronation Street in 1972, playing the role of Deirdre Hunt. Following screen marriages, she has been Deirdre Langton, Deirdre Barlow, Deirdre Rachid and then back to Barlow again.

Kirkbride (right) won her role on Coronation Street after her cameo role in Jack Rosenthal's one-off drama, Another Sunday and Sweet FA (1972), caught producers' eyes.

ITV director of television Peter Fincham said Kirkbride - seen here in the front row, second from the right - was a "truly loyal servant to Coronation Street."

The character of Deirdre Barlow, seen here on the left, has been described as "unique and unforgettable".

Coronation Street marked its 20th year in 1979 with a dramatic episode in which a lorry crashed into the Rover's Return. Ken Barlow (left) helped pull Deirdre from the rubble.

The marriage of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer was not the only high-profile wedding ceremony of July 1981. Ken and Deirdre's nuptials - Deirdre's second marriage of four - bagged 24 million viewers for ITV.

The 1983 love triangle between Mike, Deirdre and Ken was one of the soap's defining storylines

In the 1990s, Deirdre found happiness with Moroccan toyboy Samir Rachid. Only a year after their 1994 marriage, though, Samir was viciously attacked and died from his injuries.

When Deirdre was wrongfully imprisoned in 1998, then-PM Tony Blair jokingly promised to review the case and newspapers distributed "Free Deirdre" stickers and T-shirts.

After a string of failed relationships - on both sides - Ken and Deirdre reconciled and remarried in 2005.

Most of Kirkbride's most famous scenes were filmed in the confines of 1 Coronation Street and depicted her relationships with acerbic mother Blanche, wayward daughter Tracy and her (mostly) faithful husband Ken.

Having by then become one of the show's longest-running stars, Kirkbride was in attendance when the Duchess of Cornwall visited the Coronation Street set in 2010.

William Roache, who played Ken Barlow, led tributes to Kirkbride, saying: "I feel Anne's loss so personally having worked closely with her for over 40 years. You always knew she was there because her laugh was never far away."