Fathers' for Justice campaigner climbs the Tyne Bridge to unfurl a banner on Father's Day

Fathers' for Justice campaigner climbs the Tyne Bridge to unfurl a banner on Father's Day

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A campaigner's Father’s Day protest has entered its third day atop Newcastle’s Tyne Bridge.

Real Fathers for Justice activist Simon Anderton scaled the landmark on Sunday, and 180ft up in the air unfurled a 25ft purple banner marking “fatherless day”.

Police confirmed on Tuesday morning that the protest by the father-of-five, 56, continues and that they had not talked him down overnight.

The labourer, who lives with his elderly mother in Heaton, has said he plans to stay harnessed to the bridge for two weeks and has supplies of food and water.

In the meantime the bridge remains open, however, the footpath on the eastern side is closed to pedestrians.

It is not the first time the grandfather has climbed the Tyne Bridge. In 2008 he spent three days on the bridge, suspending a life-size, fully-clothed dummy it - and wound up 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 find 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.

His protests have also seen him previously scale Westminster Abbey and spent nine days on the roof of the Metro Radio studios.

And his latest protest follows continued criticism by the RFFJ of how parents are treated by the justice system.

RFFJ spokesman Ray Barry said: “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.”