Dandy in print for last time

The Dandy will finish later this year (PA)

The Dandy will publish its last issue on its 75th birthday in December following a huge fall in sales. The UK's longest-running children's comic, which features the antics of cowboy strongman Desperate Dan, will only be available online.

But publisher DC Thomson, which has seen the comic's circulation fall from two million in the 1950s to under 8,000 today, said there are "exciting plans in the pipeline" to take it in a "different direction". "Dan has certainly not eaten his last cow pie," said chief executive Ellis Watson. "All of The Dandy's characters are just 110 days away from a new lease of life."