A Jewish father who left an ultra-orthodox community when splitting from his wife was accused of letting their two young children ride their bikes on the Sabbath and watch television, a family court judge has said.

The man's estranged wife told Judge Judith Rowe of her concerns about what the children were allowed to do when they visited their father.

She said she was afraid of them being "exposed to an alien way of life" and of religious rules being broken.

The mother said the children had "made many allegations". One child had been allowed to press a traffic light button on the Sabbath. The other had been "shown an electronic device".