A TELEVISION actress who began her life in a North-East children's home tonight tells the heartwarming tale of how she was taken in by a mining family.

Angela Bruce, who starred in the BBC drama The Messiah 2: Vengeance is Mine, makes an emotional return for a documentary to the pit village of Craghead, near Stanley, County Durham, after more than 30 years.

In the film, the Leeds-born actress talks about being the only black child in the village.

As a young child, she lived in a Newcastle Barnado's home and, aged three, was sent to visit Craghead miner Joseph Bruce and his wife, Anne.

It was only supposed to be a weekend stay, but the couple could not let her go.

Angela said: "I remember the woman came from the children's home to take me back. They were putting my coat on and, apparently, I turned round and said "bye bye, mummy and daddy".

"They said "Oh, she can't go" so I took my coat off and I stayed. I never went back.."

She left Craghead in 1970, a year after the pit closed, to pursue an acting career which included roles in Coronation Street, Dr Who and Red Dwarf.

In the documentary, she tells of the childhood prejudice she suffered from some villagers.

She recalled: "They used to have a thing where you'd be walking along the paving stones and they'd say 'don't walk along black lines because you'll get black babies'.

"I was the only black kid in the village, and sometimes it was tough. For most people, it wasn't a problem. Others couldn't accept it."

In the film, shown as part of the Inside Out series on BBC1 at 7.30pm, she is reunited with best friend, Jean Coulson, who still lives in Craghead.