Coronation Street actor declared bankrupt for the second time after been unable to pay off 'hefty' tax bill

Philip Middlemiss, aged 62, who starred as Des Barnes in the ITV soap between 1990 to 1998, has filed for bankruptcy after being unable to pay off a large tax bill.

The actor’s latest bill included interest and was “a hefty five figure sum”, as reported by the Sun, although the exact amount was not revealed.

It comes 13 years after Middlemiss first filed for bankruptcy. When he had to do this in 2012, he blamed his financial difficulty on production of a film he was directing in Ghana coming to a halt after more than three years.

“[The film] was partly-funded by myself but I didn't have the money to fund the rest of the film,” he said at the time. “Filming came to a grinding halt. It was nearly three-quarters of the way along the line. It has been a difficult time. Three-and-a-half years is a long time to fund myself without any income.”

He added that before making the choice to declare himself bankrupt he “had to get money from family and friends”.

The actor began his career in 1986 on the show Ladies In Charge, and then he went on to appear on popular shows The Bill and Waterfront Beat.

When he arrived on the famous Corrie cobbles, Middlemiss starred as newlywed Des Barnes who arrived alongside on-screen wife Steph, played by Amelia Bullmore. After his wife left him, he went on to have romances with Raquel Wolstenhulme (Sarah Lancashire) and Natalie Horrocks (Denise Welch).

Des and Natalie were married in 1998, but he died of a heart attack in hospital weeks later after trying to stop his stepson Tony being attacked by a gang of drug dealers.

His most notable post-Coronation Street role was as David Buckley in the ITV drama Where The Heart Is, which he starred in from 2000 to 2006.

Last year, he was seen on screen for the first time in a decade. He played his first role since 2014 as DI Travis Lennox in the final series of the BBC series Doctors last year.