Three Little Birds Bakery said it received a request from an events agency to make a cake and 100 cupcakes for the birthday of an unidentified "well-known" celebrity - later revealed to be Tyldesley - in exchange for promotion on social media and in OK! magazine.

The bakery, in Keighley, West Yorkshire, responded to the request by declining the offer, with owner Rebecca Severs saying her staff "can't feed their kids with exposure on Instagram".

"I'm so sorry to hear that your client has fallen on such hard times they can't afford to pay small businesses for their products," she wrote.

"Unfortunately as my mortgage provider doesn't take payment 'in the form of promotion on their socials', and my staff can't feed their kids with exposure on Instagram, I'll have to decline your very generous offer."

Along with the screenshots of the emails, the bakery wrote in the post: "This poor celebrity apparently can't afford to pay people for their products and services. Spare a thought! What happened to women supporting women..."

In response, Tyldesley posted an Instagram video story from inside a car where she said she had "no idea those emails were being sent" and called the row "utterly bizarre".

The ex-soap star, 39, referred to the matter as "cake gate" and had a dig at the bakery, saying: "I hope the cake lady got the exposure she was craving."

Tyldesley insisted she was not working with OK! magazine and named the agency as NVRLND, which she said was an "amazing" company.

She said: "They've supplied me with performers in the past. They're insane and they've been completely misrepresented in this matter."

Since her identity was revealed as the mystery celebrity, Tyldesley said she has had journalists knocking on her front door while her children were playing in the front room.

"Dead nice that. Thanks for coming," she said.

The bakery claimed it has been threatened with legal action by NVRLND in response to its Facebook post, with the events firm reportedly alleging defamation.

It added: "NVRLND aren't getting paid properly either, they are also working entirely on a 'promotional and expenses only basis'."

The row may have a silver lining for the bakery as more than 2,000 people "liked" the original post, and one user wrote: "I love that by refusing to do the cake which I am so glad you did you have probably got more exposure than if you actually did it."

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Sky News has contacted NVRLND for a comment.

Tyldesley played barmaid Eva Price in Coronation Street from 2011 to 2018.

She also starred in BBC drama Lilies and sitcom Scarborough and appeared as a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing in 2019.