Force - one of the first wheat-based breakfast cereal brands produced - has been axed.

First manufactured in 1901 in the US, Force became a firmer favourite with Brits and was eventually sold only in this country. It was stocked at Sainsbury’s and Waitrose until last month, when Cereal Partners decided to stop making the brand.

The business, which is a joint venture between Nestlé and General Mills, said demand for the product was too low and that it no longer made economic sense to make it. The brand has received little marketing support in recent years having fallen out of fashion since its heyday in the 1930s, when it was supported by advertising featuring a morose character called Jimmy Dumps who would turn into Sunny Jim.

The only successful wheat-based cereal to predate Force was Shredded Wheat, which was introduced in 1893.