Dads' rights group in lock-out at court

The group, which has flour-bombed Prime Minister Tony Blair and scaled the Severn Bridge in Bristol dressed as superheroes, also chained up the gates of the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Services building in London Road. Police were called and attended the scenes with locksmiths to gain entry to the two buildings.

Jason Hatch, of Cheltenham, a spokesman for Fathers 4 Justice, said he did not know who had locked the doors, but added: "We have denied them access to the court building in the same way that they have denied us access to our children on Father's Day."We are promising a summer of mass disruption until the law is changed so that fathers have 50-50 presumption of contact with their children." Several members of the 7,500-strong group were due in court in Western-super-Mare today to answer charges relating to the Bristol incident.

A manager from the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service, in London Road, had arrived early to get some extra work done, only to find she could not get in.

She said: "It's so disruptive and it just gets in the way of our job. They are just shooting the messenger." Police spokeswoman Kate Nelmes said: "At 7.10am we received a call from the county court in Kimbrose Way saying that their doors had been padlocked.

"There was nobody there but it is believed that a calling card from the Fathers 4 Justice group was left.

"The back door had been superglued and is being treated as an offence of criminal damage and is being investigated." She appealed for anyone who may have seen what happened to call police on 0845 090 1234 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Fathers 4 Justice is a civil rights group which campaigns for the right of children to see both of their parents and grandparents.

They say that current children's laws protect only the mother in access issues, effectively working for their best interest rather than the child's.