SHE has been shunned by her home city and denounced as a bad role model by politicians, but now the real-life Beryl the Peril has decided to come out fighting.

Rosemary Moffat, the inspiration behind the comic-strip character who has wrought mayhem in the pages of The Topper and The Dandy for more than half a century, has spoken out to defend the reputation of her cartoon alter ego.

Beryl was to have been honoured with a bronze plaque as part of a new women’s trail in Dundee, the home of DC Thomson, the comics’ publisher, but was dropped because she is a fictional character. She was replaced by Victoria Drummond, a marine engineer who was Queen Victoria’s goddaughter.

The decision was welcomed by the city’s politicians, who said she was a bad role model and that honouring her would send out the wrong message to youngsters.

Shona Robison, the public health minister and MSP for Dundee East, said Beryl should be awarded an Asbo rather than a plaque.

Moffat, the elder daughter of David Law, the character’s creator, who was an illustrator with DC Thomson, believes Beryl was a feminist who stood up for “girl power” in the 1950s, much as the Spice Girls did four decades later.

She says politicians should “lighten up” and erect a plaque to recognise her “feistiness and pluckiness”.

“Beryl was the start of young women asserting themselves, being as good as the boys — or as naughty as boys,” said the 62-year-old grandmother.

“Bolshy, upfront, as opposed to being wicked. When I was growing up she was a female Dennis the Menace, and we all loved her.

“My dad used to discuss the script, and I don’t remember him ever saying: ‘Oh, that’s antisocial, I don’t like her doing that.’ My dad would laugh at some of the antics she got up to.”

Unlike Beryl, who has dark hair that she wears in trademark pigtails, as a young girl Moffat was pale and had blonde, wavy hair, which she wore down around her face.

Like the character, she remembers climbing trees, playing cowboys and Indians with her sister Alison and their friends, and hanging around with her dog Susie.

Moffat, who now works part-time as a cook in St Joseph’s convent in Dundee, recalls her father constantly sketching her facial expressions and attempting to curb her tomboy ways.

“I would climb up walls and trees, and my father would go frantic in case I fell. I would hurl childish abuse at him and wouldn’t come down. He used to get quite angry,” she said.

“I remember throwing a tantrum and my dad, instead of being angry, would laugh hysterically. He would say to my mother: ‘Did you catch that? Did you see the expression on her face?’ I think some of Beryl’s grimaces were mine.”

Beryl became The Topper’s cover girl in 1986 and, after the comic closed down in 1993, she moved to The Dandy in which she still appears.

Brian Cox, the Hollywood actor and Dundee’s most famous son, came to Beryl’s defence, urging the city to honour her as a “quintessential daughter” of the city.

“It was a more innocent time back then and Beryl always got her just deserts, which is more than can be said for the Asbo kids today,” said Moffat.

“I think there should have been a plaque to Beryl. We’ve all heard of her, and identified with her as we were growing up, but who was this other lady?

“Beryl is an important part of Scottish history — she represents the female angle — and girls need all the help they can get.”

Moffat added: “Shona Robison is taking it all a bit too seriously. I think we need to lighten up a little bit and have a laugh about it — we’re all too politically correct nowadays.”

Bill McLoughlin of DC Thomson’s syndication department said he would like all of the famous cartoon characters, including Beryl the Peril, to be honoured in Dundee.

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