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CHAV chat king Jeremy Kyle has been kicked into touch by ITV bosses.

The controversial presenter – once described as a “human bear-baiter” by a judge – will be axed in February next year.

The former life insurance salesman had already been told his daytime show would be cut back to three episodes a week.

Kyle, 43, has come under fire for “exploiting” dysfunctional families since he hit TV screens in 2005.

His shows have included “Brother, I’ll Prove I’m the Father Of Your Ex-Girlfriend’s Baby” and “If I Can’t Have Children, How Can It Be My Baby?”.

Angry guests have tried to assault the ex-radio DJ when they objected to his comments about their personal problems.

And the show hit the headlines in 2007 when a man head-butted his love rival.

Security guard David Staniforth, 45, attacked bus driver Larry Mahoney, 39, after discovering he had begun an affair with his wife Jennifer after moving into their home as a lodger.

Staniforth, of Chesterfield, Derbys, is believed to be the first person convicted of assaulting someone on a British talk show. District Judge Alan Berg, sitting at Manchester Magistrates’ Court, branded the show a “human form of bear-baiting”.

And he added: “It seems to me the purpose of this show is to effect a morbid and depressing display of dysfunctional people whose lives are in turmoil.”

Cash-strapped ITV bosses now say the cost of screening the show daily is too high.

And one of the biggest bills was paying for “guests” to stay at hotels near the Granada studios in Manchester.

An ITV insider told the Daily Star Sunday last night: “People appearing on the show love to get the chance to stay in a hotel at ITV’s expense but it’s too much to keep paying out.

“The screenings will be scaled back until next year when the show will go for good. It is unfortunate but everything has a shelf-life and this has come to an end.”

The show, currently running every weekday, was based on Jerry Springer’s hit US series featuring the wild antics of the country’s “trailer trash”.

Kyle’s rival on Five, Trisha Goddard, has already been told her show will be ended.