A Cheshire mum decided to take Asda to task about their children's clothes in the name of gender equality - and the message has quickly gone viral on Facebook.

Amy Platt says she decided to act when she saw a 'Future Scientist' t-shirt in the boy's section of her local Asda, but no equivalent in the girl's area.

In fact, she says, the equivalent shirt in the female section bore the message 'Forever Daddy's Girl'.

Platt, a mother of two, decided to buy one of the 'Future Scientist' t-shirts for her four-year-old daughter, and moved a bundle of the garments into the girl's section.

She wrote about it on Facebook, suggesting girls should be given "empowering slogans" just like boys.

The message concluded with hashtags such as #everydaysexism, #letclothesbeclothes and #stemgirls, a tag dedicated to women in science.

Platt then sent a follow-up message showing another pair of t-shirts juxtaposed, one carrying the legend 'How to build a rocket' for boys and the other bearing what she described as "rambling nonsense about butterflies."

The messages have received over 3,000 likes and almost 200 responses from fellow Facebook users.

Many praised Platt for taking a stand, with a member of the STEM research council even responding to say it was a brilliant initiative.

However others said the gesture was excessive, with one respondent saying "God people are just going too far" and adding "let kids just f***ing chill out they will find their own way without parents getting all huffy."

Another message said Platt was "just making a mess and patting herself of the back [sic] for being a feminist."

In response, an Asda spokesperson said: "We offer a wide range of children’s clothing to try to meet the latest customer tastes and trends. Our aim is to make clothes people love, never to offend."