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A dads' rights campaigner is holding a Fathers’ Day protest 180ft above ground on the Tyne Bridge.

Real Fathers for Justice (RFFJ) activist, Simon Anderton, this morning scaled the iconic structure to unfurl a 25ft purple banner saying:

“Happy fatherless day’Realfathersforjustice.org.”

The 56-year-old labourer is a father of five and a grandfather.

Simon sold his house to fund his family court battle and now lives with his elderly mother in the Heaton suburb of Newcastle.

Simon has previously scaled Westminster Abbey, spent nine days on the roof of the Metro Radio studios and occupied the Tyne Bridge for three days in 2008.

RFFJ spokesman Ray Barry said: “As a lay advisor I work in family courts every week supporting separated parents. Nothing much has changed in the last decade, although fathers may be offered contact more often, the quality and frequency is often pitiful.

“Changes brought in by the Children and Families Act last year were trumpeted as introducing a presumption in favour of fathers being ordered contact, but it was watered down to almost nothing in the committee stages in Parliament.

“This new law says that even when a court is satisfied that a father presents no risk, indirect contact can be enough. That means sending cards and letters but never actually seeing your child. It’s insulting to all fathers everywhere. It happens to mothers too, the current system is adversarial and we call for a more collaborative process of resolution to ensure children remain in the lives of both parents following separation or divorce.”

Simon plans to stay harnessed to the bridge for two weeks and has supplies of food and water.

A Northumbria Police spokesman said: “At 7.45am this morning police were informed a man was on the Tyne Bridge in Newcastle. Officers are currently in the area speaking to the man. The Bridge remains open, however, motorists are advised there may be delays while the incident is dealt with. Initial inquiries suggest the man intends to hold a peaceful protest on the bridge.”

Simon’s 2008 Tyne Bridge protest saw him suspend a life-size, fully-clothed dummy from the bridge, and it landed him in court.

Prosecutors claimed he wanted to cause massive disruption by closing the bridge and that his stunt with the mannequin risked the lives of motorists driving underneath.

But a Newcastle Crown Court jury took just 20 minutes to him not guilty of attempting to cause a public nuisance.

They also cleared him on judge’s direction of causing a danger to road users by hanging the 12kg dummy on a rope.

After the verdicts he said: “I’m over the moon. It is a fantastic outcome. Both myself and the group feel very vindicated. My only aim was to highlight our cause in a peaceful way not to create disruption or upset anyone. Obviously we want the public behind us not against us and the support I received from people while I was on the bridge actually kept me up there longer. They were tooting their horns and even shouting my name. I can’t thank them – or the jury – enough.”