Emma Thompson and daughter caring for her elderly mother during lockdown

Emma Thompson has enlisted her 20-year-old daughter to help her care for her ailing mother during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Nanny McPhee star's 88-year-old mum, actress Phyllida Law, was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease five years ago and has been shielding with her daughter and granddaughter Gaia in Argyll, Scotland.

Emma and her offspring are splitting their duties - with the 61-year-old serving as primary carer and Gaia doing all of the cooking.

"It's a bit like living in a cross between a care home and a gastropub," she told Britain's Daily Mail newspaper. "Mum is quite lame so it's a case of taking her out in a wheelchair, and making sure she takes her medication. The meds are amazing.

"We can shield her here quite easily, and she moves more here, too, because she is interested in looking at the trees and the birds. In London, it's more difficult."

Revealing how their duties are shared out, Emma added: "But it's working quite well, actually. Gaia has taken it on herself to cook, which helps a lot. I used to love cooking but - I don't know why - I don't want to now. I'm quite happy with a can of beans, but it's nice that she wants to do it. Whatever the day's been like, someone who isn't you is going to make dinner."

The actress is also doing her bit to help Britain's National Health Service (NHS) by donating to the Daily Mail's Mail Force campaign which is providing personal protective equipment (PPE) for frontline health workers.