Baby dolls strapped to statues in Crosby paternity demo

Baby dolls have been strapped to iconic beach statues by sculptor Antony Gormley in a campaign to increase paternity leave.

A recording of a baby's cries was also played as the Pregnant then Screwed group staged the stunt in Crosby.

They are calling for the government to increase paternity leave from a maximum two weeks to a minimum of six weeks.

A government spokeswoman said they had "no current plans to offer six weeks of paid paternity leave as standard".

She added: "However, if a father wants longer than the two weeks of paternity leave, he may choose to take shared parental leave [SPL] with his partner which enables them to share up to 37 weeks of paid leave."

Recent government data found that 5% of employee fathers and 1% of employee mothers reported taking SPL.

A survey by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) also reported that about 50% of families struggle financially when dads or partners took paternity leave, and a fifth did not take any paternity leave, mainly due to money worries.

The Pregnant then Screwed group staged the protest as the Labour Party conference started nearby in Liverpool, saying they wanted to "put pressure on politicians to implement meaningful parental leave reform for struggling families".

Eligible mothers can take up to 52 weeks' maternity leave, with statutory maternity pay for up to 39 weeks.

As part of the government's SPL policy, a couple can share up to 50 weeks of leave and up to 37 weeks of pay.

However Sophie Lucas, from Pregnant then Screwed, said "shared parental leave is a failed policy".

"Shared parental leave is maternity leave being shared and mothers don't really want to do that either," she said.

Liverpool father Ben Carpenter said he used shared parental leave with his second daughter but could only fit in four weeks after the baby reached six months.

He said: "That was nice, but it had to be squeezed into a time that was convenient for my work and by that point, I had missed out on those early moments of bonding with the child."

Crosby Beach attracted increasing international attention after 2005, when 100 statues based on the figure of its sculptor Anthony Gormley were installed.

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