Racial references have been removed from Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels following a sensitivity review.

Terms such as the n-word, which featured in his writing from the 1950s and 1960s, have been edited out of new editions of the 007 books set for reissue in April.

Some depictions of black people have also been reworked or removed, but references to other ethnicities, such as a term for east Asian people and Bond’s mocking views of Oddjob, Goldfinger’s Korean henchman remain, The Telegraph reports.

Revised lines include Bond’s assessment in Live and Let Die that would-be African criminals are “pretty law-abiding chaps I should have thought, except when they’ve drunk too much,” which has been changed to “pretty law-abiding chaps I should have thought.”

However, references to the “sweet tang of rape”, “blithering women”, doing a “man’s work” and references to homosexuality being a “stubborn disability” have been kept in.

A disclaimer accompanying the new editions is expected to read: “This book was written at a time when terms and attitudes which might be considered offensive by modern readers were commonplace.

“A number of updates have been made in this edition, while keeping as close as possible to the original text and the period in which it is set.”

However, references to the “sweet tang of rape”, “blithering women”, doing a “man’s work” and references to homosexuality being a “stubborn disability” have been kept in.

A disclaimer accompanying the new editions is expected to read: “This book was written at a time when terms and attitudes which might be considered offensive by modern readers were commonplace.

“A number of updates have been made in this edition, while keeping as close as possible to the original text and the period in which it is set.”

It comes after Ian Fleming Publications Ltd, which owns the rights to his work, commissioned a review by sensitivity readers of the James Bond series. The Independent has contacted Ian Fleming Publications Ltd for comment.

Absolutely pathetic. An example of how liberals falsify history and censor literature.