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(Image: PA/NC)

The schoolboy who has terrorised his family and neighbours for more than 70 years will be known simply as “Dennis” from now on.

DC Thomson, the company that has published The Beano since 1938, says the hellraiser has now “moved away from his ‘menacing’ ways”.

The shock change coincides with the launch of a new CBBC TV series, Dennis & Gnasher Unleashed, which producers claim embraces “difference and diversity”.

Instead of hanging around with scruffy boys on street corners, Dennis’s telly pals include two girls – rock drummer JJ and Rubi, who zips around in a wheelchair.

But he will still be accompanied by his dog Gnasher.

(Image: NC)

Beano bosses deny that the changes are due to political correctness.

Spokesman Mike Stirling said: “The comic is reflective of the world we all live in today and today’s Dennis is a flawed hero.”

But some fans have hit out online at the move.

One wrote: “What a joke – the world’s gone mad.”

Another commented: "Here comes the political correctness brigade.”