Divorced fathers to get more child access

Fathers will be given more access to their children when they separate from partners under new proposals by ministers.

The Government wants to cut the number of bitter and lengthy battles over child contact which are clogging up courts and causing misery for families.

Ministers are studying an "early intervention" pilot project which aims to bring parents together at the point when they are about to separate with the aim of helping then agree. The idea is modelled on successful schemes in the US and Canada.

Parents would be presented with a "roadmap" for future contact arrangements with which they would be expected to comply.

Ministers and judges accept the current court-based system for resolving disputes is failing children and parents. As many as 40

per cent of fathers who divorce lose contact with their children. Several have resorted to stunts such as dressing as superheroes and scaling buildings or blocking traffic.

The new scheme is shooting up the political agenda after a joint study by Lord Falconer's Department of Constitutional Affairs ad Charles Clarke's Department for Education.

A DCA spokesman said: "The Government has been looking at intervention pilots and will be coming forward with proposals."