Male academics should say the word ‘menopause’ at least three times a day in solidarity with their female colleagues, according to a fellow scholar.

Staff at the University of Leicester are being encouraged to open up and talk about the taboo subject in a bid to normalise conversation on the topic.

Dr Andrea Davies, from the university's School of Business, has argued that all staff should be able to talk about menopause openly and without embarrassment and that saying the word three times a day would help.

In a bid to open up the conversation she has organised the monthly Leicester Menopause Café, where male and female colleagues are encouraged to come together and chat about the middle-aged phenomena.

"We have been arguing to avoid any closeted words or acronyms and just say menopause - preferably three times a day to make it unremarkable”, she said.

“We set out that menopause should not be a women's only issue.”