Mandy star Diane Morgan had ghostly encounter as a child

Diane Morgan believes "in an afterlife”.

The ‘Motherland’ star detailed an encounter she had at her grandmother's house when she was a child where she was certain that a "black shadow" was watching her.

The 47-year-old actress told the Daily Star newspaper: “I like to believe in an afterlife.

“In my grandmother’s house when I was around 11 or 12, I was brushing my hair in the mirror and got a strange feeling someone was staring at me until they were an inch away from my face.

“There was a black shadow on the wall - and it started moving towards me. It wasn’t summer so couldn’t have been my own shadow - I ruled everything out - it kept coming closer until I ran out.

“I thought that was the start of something but since then, nothing. It was stranger than being filmed as there was no one else there.”

As well as her role as Liz in sitcom 'Motherland', Diane has starred in a string of successful comedy shows, including Ricky Gervais' 'After Life', 'Mandy' and 'Cunk On Britain'.

Diane got to star opposite Happy Mondays frontman Shaun Ryder in the first season of ‘Mandy’ and she has described the singer as "brilliant" and "up for anything".

She said: “He was brilliant - up for anything, no airs and graces.

“I love him and Bez on ‘Gogglebox’ and could watch them for a whole episode.

“He didn’t talk to me about aliens though.”

Diane is a distant relative of 'Coronation Street' legend Julie Goodyear - who played Rovers Return landlady Bet Lynch on the ITV soap - and she admits that the larger than life performer is an influence on her sitcom character Mandy Carter.

Diane said: “Julie is something like my grandma’s sister’s cousin’s daughter. I’ve never met her, but when I play Mandy, I see a touch of her.”