PEAKY Blinders star Helen McCrory has died from cancer aged 52, her "heartbroken" husband Damian Lewis has announced.

The “beautiful and mighty” actress, who starred in hit crime drama Peaky Blinders and James Bond film Skyfall, died peacefully at home, said Mr Lewis.

In a tweet he wrote: “I’m heartbroken to announce that after an heroic battle with cancer, the beautiful and mighty woman that is Helen McCrory has died peacefully at home, surrounded by a wave of love from friends and family.

“She died as she lived. Fearlessly. God we love her and know how lucky we are to have had her in our lives. She blazed so brightly. Go now Little One, into the air, and thank you.”

Helen McCrory was born in Paddington, London, to a Welsh mother and Scottish-born father and was the eldest of three children.

She studied acting at the Drama Centre in London. She and Mr Lewis married in 2007 and share a daughter Manon, born in 2006, and son Gulliver, born in 2007.

Helen played Cherie Blair in The Queen and starred in several Harry Potter films and TV drama Fearless.

In Peaky Blinders she played the formidable Polly Gray. The hit TV gangster drama has filmed scenes in the Bradford district for every series, at locations including City Hall, Little Germany and Undercliffe Cemetery, and will end after its upcoming sixth series, it has been confirmed.

Creator and writer Steven Knight recently said the story would continue in “another form”.