Claire responded to fans reactions to her Corrie debut (Pictures: Dave Hogan/Hogan Media/Shutterstock/ITV)

Former Brookside star Claire Sweeney made a spectacular return to the soap world last week as Evelyn Plummer’s (Maureen Lipman) drug addict daughter Cassie in Coronation Street.

In her first episodes she was thrown straight into the action, with Cassie suffering a heroin overdose before learning that Evelyn had told son Tyrone (Alan Halsall) that she was dead.

After discharging herself from hospital, she struck fear in Evelyn when she arrived home and found her estranged daughter mid conversation with Tyrone.

Luckily for Evelyn, Cassie had lied about her identity, and Tyrone hadn’t recognised her from the photos.

Following the episodes which saw Evelyn promise to help Cassie get clean, fans lauded their performances, hailing them a ‘dream team’.

Actress Claire Sweeney was inundated with messages on social media, which she responded to in a tweet.

In the message to fans, she thanked everyone for their ‘kind words’ and expressed her gratitude for the opportunity.

In response to her tweet, fans continued to praise her performance, with viewers saying that they ‘can’t wait to see more’ of her.

Claire made her debut as Cassie in Corrie last week (Picture: ITV)

When it was first announced that Claire would be joining the Corrie cast, she revealed that it was a more exciting gig than a Hollywood movie for her.

‘Even though I’ve been lucky enough to have enjoyed an amazingly varied career for nearly 40 years – being cast in Coronation Street is, to me, better than being cast in a Hollywood movie!

‘I’ve watched it all my life and can’t quite believe that I’ll now be stepping onto those famous cobbles myself. I was really nervous when I got the scripts to audition as this show means so much to me and my family and this is Corrie gold, I was beyond thrilled and very grateful when I got the call that Iain MacLeod is trusting me to play Tyrone’s Mum and work alongside one of my heroes, Dame Maureen Lipman.

‘Cassie is a character who is definitely going to make an impact – I just hope the audience will enjoy watching her as much as I’m going to be enjoying playing her!’

Though Cassie and Evelyn made an exit from the street at the end of last week, Metro.co.uk understands that they are set to return later this year.

MORE : Coronation Street’s Daniel Brocklebank in new relationship after split from co-star

MORE : Coronation Street spoilers: Elaine disowns Tim as he takes on her murdering husband Stephen

Fans are loving her character.