Ministers have set out plans to force divorced and separated parents who ignore child contact orders to do unpaid community work on Saturdays, be placed under a curfew or be tagged.

The government has however ruled out an automatic presumption that children’s time should be split equally between both parents.

Lord Falconer, the constitutional affairs secretary, said: "There have been too many cases where the courts have made order after order for contact and there has not been contact. That is not in the interests of the children."