The voice of Apu in The Simpsons will no longer be voiced by actor Hank Azaria.

Mr Azaria has performed the voice of the much loved Indian store owner since 1990 but says he is stepping down from the role. Apu made his first appearance in season one in an episode called The Telltale Head.

The character has been accused of reinforcing racial stereotypes non more than in by comic Hari Kondabolu who made a documentary 'The Problem with Apu'.

In the documentary he said Apu was one of the only representations of South Asians on television when he was growing up and other children imitated the character to mock him.

Speaking to website SlashFilm Mr Azaria said, "All we know there is I won't be doing the voice anymore, unless there's some way to transition it or something,"

"We all made the decision together... We all agreed on it. We all feel like it's the right thing and good about it."

And added, “What they’re going to do with the character is their call. It’s up to them and they haven’t sorted it out yet. All we’ve agreed on is I won’t do the voice any more.”

Mr Azaria also provides the voice of popular characters Moe Szyslak and Chief Wiggum, among others. He had said he found it "very upsetting to me personally and professionally" that anyone was marginalised because of Apu.

Mr Kondabolu said on Twitter, "If @HankAzaria is indeed no longer doing the voice of Apu, I do hope they keep the character & let a very talented writing staff do something interesting with him. If not to better the show, then to at least spare me some death threats.

"My documentary “The Problem with Apu” was not made to get rid of a dated cartoon character, but to discuss race, representation & my community (which I love very much). It was also about how you can love something (like the Simpsons) & still be critical about aspects of it (Apu)."