A fire service has removed Fireman Sam from posters and advertising because it claims he's not representative enough of society.
Chiefs at Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue service have removed the iconic children's TV character from all of their promotional material in order to attract more people to join up.
According to local reports, Sam will be replaced by the service's own creations, a pair of fire extinguishers called Freddy and Filbert.
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The news was confirmed in an email sent out by an 'authority figure in the fire service'.
It read: "A decision has been made not to include images of Fireman Sam on posters or advertising going forward, as it does not reflect the inclusive nature of Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue.
"Please can you ensure when you are designing posters that Fireman Sam is not used and more inclusive images are utilised.
"This also includes no longer using the Fireman Sam costumes on stations and using the Freddy and Filbert costumes instead."
Addressing reports, Lincolnshire's chief fire officer Les Britzman, said it was important that the fire service reflected its community.
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He said: "Firefighters nationally and residents locally have raised some concerns that 'Fireman Sam' doesn't reflect the fire service today, in terms of both the job itself and our workforce.
"It's important to us that our open days and community events don't make anyone feel excluded and therefore we took this decision.
"We always make sure that we include plenty of activities and other ways to engage children and adults, to help them learn more about fire safety and a firefighter's role."
But the news hasn't gone down well with everyone.
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Speaking to the Sun, local resident Joe Carter, 44, from Lincoln, said: "Fireman Sam works for the fire service and is called Sam. What else do they need to include?
"You wonder if our fire chiefs are operating in the real world."
The news also wasn't well-received by Piers Morgan - shocker - who blasted fire chiefs for the decision.
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He said: "(The show has been) bullied into doing everything he could possibly want and now you want to get rid of Fireman Sam!
"Why can't fire services use the Fireman Sam brand? Why can't you celebrate men and women? Why does everything have to be gender fluid?"
Responding to the criticism, Mr Britzman said: "Lincolnshire is a modern brigade. We're struggling to recruit firefighters. 50 percent of the population are women and [the brand] it's simply not appealing.
"The image portrayed to young girls, who are three, four or five years old, if we are sending the wrong message at that age, were making a problem in terms of recruitment (later on)."
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Fireman Sam has been a staple of children't entertainment since it was created more than 30 years ago, following the adventures of its title character.
Featured Image Credit: BBCTopics: UK News