A GROUP which brings together separated fathers and their children has welcomed an MPs' inquiry into court-arranged contact.

Donald Gayle, who set up Bolton's Saturday Fathers Together with fellow dad Andy Kearney three years ago, said any new look at the system was helpful.

He felt the recent publicity stunts of lobby group Fathers4Justice - whose activities prompted a major security alert at Buckingham Palace last week - had raised the profile of the plight of many fathers.

But he added: "We are really concerned with the rights of the children, and with helping fathers care for them."

He and Mr Kearney were student fathers separated from their children when they first set up the group, feeling it filled a gap. They received national publicity via John Peel's radio show and were contacted by many local fathers.

Today, they run twice weekly sessions at the Respect Counselling centre in Chorley Old Road, with funding from Bolton CVS and the Greater Manchester Local Network Fund.

Their group regularly helps 30 to 40 fathers and their children get together on "neutral" ground. Sessions there focus on support and education with expert help, as well as giving them time together.

Mr Gayle said: "We have had fathers who need someone to show them how to change a nappy so they can look after their child. Yes, this is happening even in 2004, fathers still need to learn how to be fathers.

"We have also had fathers who have lost children who have cried their eyes out for the first time in 15 years."

He said the concerns of the children were paramount, adding: "When relationships break down it can become like a war zone where the children are used by the father against the mother and by the mother against the father. We want to try to prevent this, they can help their children and be a father to them."

MPs have just announced a new inquiry into family courts and the treatment of parents over issues including custody and contact with children. A Government review of this is already under way after the publication of Green Paper.

For more details about Saturday Fathers sessions and help, contact the group's freephone number 0800 389 2609.