EAST Lancashire actress Julie Hesmondhalgh cursed her sense of direction after winning £20,000 for an Accrington charity.

Appearing on hit ITV 1 game show The Cube, hosted by Philip Schofield, the Coronation Street star walked away with the cash for homeless charity Maundy Relief.

After flying through the first three rounds she nearly lost it on a challenge to recreate a walkway shown by flashing lights.

She lost four lives as she forgot the route. But following encouragement from her husband Ian and three friends in the audience, as well as from host Philip, she finally completed the game on her last life.

After nearly breaking down in her final challenge she celebrated winning £20,000 by screaming 'I think I need a drink'.

The gameshow offers the contestants the chance to keep playing games, within nine lives, up to a top prize of £250,000. Each game is inside The Cube.

Julie, 41, who plays Hayley Cropper in the soap, is from Accrington and has been a patron of Maundy Relief for many years.

She said the some of the cash would be used to ensure that a new project to create a special centre for elderly people in Accrington, would be accessible for the disabled.

She said: "It is amazing and I'm taking the money and running. It really will transform an amazing charity."

She said she was notorious for her poor sense of direction and often rowed with her husband on car journeys.

Julie had the chance to go for another game, with just one life but her husband Ian Kershaw said: "If she does it it will be the end of our marriage."

Maundy Relief founder Dorothy Mcgregor said: "It is absoultely fantastic to win so much money.

“Julie is a really genuine person and you can tell she desperately wanted to risk everything and win the moeny for us.

“Maundy Grange could not do without Julie, she is a fantastic patron who has never forgotten her Lancashire roots.”

Julie appeared on a special celebrity edition of the popular gameshow on Christmas Eve along with fellow Corrie star Ryan Thomas.