TOTTINGTON actress Lisa Riley has become the victim of a death threat after being branded "too fat" for TV.

And the teenage sender of a hate mail letter threatened to "hack to pieces" the 24-year-old who plays Mandy Kirk in TV's popular Emmerdale soap.

Later, under the new Harassment Act, police visited the home of a 13-year-old boy in Rochdale and spoke to him.

Lisa, a former St Gabriel's High School pupil, told a Sunday newspaper: "I've never had anything as sick and nasty as this. I was terrified.

"I had to face the fact that there might be someone out there who actually meant to kill me.

"It was only one letter, but the tone of it was really hateful."

The letter was sent to Granada TV Studios in Manchester where Lisa films her popular "You've Been Framed" series.

The death threat came at a particularly stressful time for the bubbly actress. Her grandfather was going into hospital for a triple heart bypass and her mum was recovering from breast cancer.

Lisa is being written out of Emmerdale as she wants to pursue other projects.

A Greater Manchester Police spokeswoman confirmed officers had visited the home of a 13-year-old boy to talk to him following Lisa's complaint.