The Beano comic has issued a formal cease and desist letter to Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, requesting that he stops "impersonating the character Walter Brown".

Beano Studios says they were notified of the "copyright infringement" by their young fans.

The publishers say: "While Walter made his first appearance in the Beano in 1953 as Dennis the Menace's neighbour, Rees-Mogg was born 1969 and stands accused of masquerading as the comic book character."

The comic book creators point out that the Tory MP has the same "iconic hair parting, austere dress sense, distinctive round glasses and snootiness" as their character.

Mike Stirling from Beano Studios says: "We were flattered when we discovered that Jacob Rees-Mogg has dedicated his life to impersonating one of my favourite Beano characters, young Walter. Nonetheless, as a hard-working British media company, we would prefer the public gets its Walter fix in the pages of our comics and on Beano.com, rather than played out on the political stage. In other words, bog off Rees-Mogg!"

With the letter threatening to get "Teacher involved" if things are not swiftly resolved, Mr Rees-Mogg responded shortly after noon: