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Dennis the Menace - the naughty schoolboy who terrorised his family and neighbours for more than 70 years - is no more.

From now on, the iconic comic anti-hero who wreaked misery on his victims using peashooters and catapults will simply be known as Dennis.

In the confessional tones normally deployed by big institutions admitting scandal and cover-up, DC Thomson, publisher of The Beano since 1938, said Dennis had “made mistakes in the past” but has now “moved away from his ‘menacing’ ways”.

The change of his habits comes hand-in-hand with a new CBBC series, called: Dennis & Gnasher Unleashed, which embraces difference and diversity.

(Image: PA)

In the past his pals used to be scruffy boys in his own image, his new television pals include two cool girls: JJ, a rock drummer, and Rubi, who zips around in a wheelchair.

Beano bosses deny that these changes are a concession to political correctness and say that they are just part of the continued evolution of Dennis since his first appearance in the comic in 1951.

It has been many years, for example, since a story ended with Dennis being slippered by his angry dad.

Mike Stirling, head of Beano Studios Scotland, insisted that Dennis had not been a menace for years, although the strip was still branded “Dennis the Menace and Gnasher” in the 2017 Beano annual.

He added that the comic was “reflective of the world we all live in today and today’s Dennis is a flawed hero, a ten-year-old boy who fears nothing and sometimes gets into trouble as a result.

He has become just plain Dennis in the weekly Beano and its annual.