A VETERAN children’s entertainer has hit out at “PC culture” after having Punch and Judy shows cancelled by those who believe the traditional act glorifies domestic abuse.

Mr Punch, better known as Darlington man Brian Lllewellyn, says the “PC brigade” and “snowflakes” are to blame for his bookings dwindling.

This week, he had a show allegedly cancelled by a school in Middlesbrough after he refused their request to ensure Punch did not hit Judy during the performance.

He claims staff also asked if he could provide a police officer, rather than a police man, and said another school had requested that he drop the traditional ‘Minstrel’ character from his act.

Mr Lllewellyn also had to remove Punch and Judy from his act to take part in Redcar’s Armed Forces Day celebrations recently, after concerns were raised about the depiction of domestic violence.

Redcar Councillor Carl Quartermain, cabinet member for culture, tourism and communications at Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, said: "The decision was taken by the Planning Group for Armed Forces Day, which is made up of different organisations, that on this particular occasion, the content of a Punch and Judy show would be inappropriate.

"The business was still booked for its face-painting and balloon-making entertainment, and the Punch & Judy show will be considered on an event-by-event basis in future.”

Mr Lllewellyn, 64, said: “It’s getting out of hand, Punch and Judy is a traditional show and Punch bashes everyone, not just his wife and the baby.

“I’m very angry, I think children are losing out when people are getting frightened of what to do or say, it’s a sad state of affairs.

“As a children’s entertainer, it’s a strange game, I have got to be very careful now, I’m not allowed to cuddle them or take pictures of them laughing.

“I’ve been doing this for 42 years after taking over from my father and I’ve never done anything to hurt anybody.

“People think that the Minstrel character is depicting a white person dressed as a black person but he’s not, he was a character called Sambo who was a slave but now that’s changed with the times and he became a singer.

“Punch and Judy does not glorify wife beating or child beating, it’s a moral story about him being horrible and bashing everybody in the show – at the end he gets locked up by a policeman.

“You’ve got to show the bad stuff to have the good stuff, we cannot wrap kids up in cotton wool.”

He added: “I’m too long in the tooth to stop now and the kids that watch my show kill themselves laughing, they know it’s not real and that Punch will get locked up.

“If we’re going to be taking Punch and Judy off them, what about the war games they can play on any computer or phone?”

Becky Rogerson, from Middlesbrough domestic abuse charity My Sisters’ Place, said: “I hated Punch and Judy as a kid as it was just violence.

“I can see schools’ position in that it’s quite brutal and that is really what we’re trying to move away from.

“We’re trying to teach respect and positive relationships and that is clearly not what that show is about.

“There’s a historical context but it’s not helpful in terms of the message that we try to spread.

“We don’t want to expose children to violence on TV and we wouldn’t want to expose them to theatrical violence.

“There’s a lot of evidence out there to say that children re-enact behaviour they see.

“The impact on them is difficult to judge because it’s different with each child and how they make sense of what they see and what they’ve experienced.

“Some may get the positive message behind Punch getting punished but that may not be the message every child takes away.”