Beano comic character 'Fatty' renamed after 65 years

Freddy - formerly known as Fatty - can be seen on the right hand side

The comic Beano has changed the name of one of its main characters from Fatty to Freddy, after 65 years.

The Beano, which was first published in 1938, is Britain's longest-running children's comic and is produced by Dundee-based company DC Thomson.

In a statement to the media Mike Stirling, editorial director of Beano Studios, said: "Kids come in all shapes and sizes and we absolutely celebrate that.

"We don't want to risk someone using it in a mean way. The time is right to revert back to Freddy."

He said the change came about after the publishers received some letters from children asking why the character Frederick Brown was called Fatty by himself and his classmates.

Despite the name change, Freddy will still look the same but may be drawn slightly thinner.

Freddy isn't the first Beano character to experience a name change. Dennis was previously known as "Dennis the Menace", while the name of the comic itself has changed from "The Beano" is simply Beano.

In August 2019 The Beano released its 4,000th issue