Plans to allow new fathers to take up to six months unpaid paternity leave have provoked an angry backlash from small business leaders.

The work and families bill, being published this week by the Government, is a significant extension on the existing right to paid paternity leave of just two weeks.

It is understood fathers will be granted a maximum of six months unpaid leave if the mother agrees to forgo an equivalent amount of her maternity leave.

The bill, which is due to come into effect in 2007, will also extend maternity leave from six months to nine months, increasing to a year by the end of the parliament.

Trevor Freeman, chairman of the East Sussex branch of the Federation of Small Businesses, said the new scheme would increase the regulatory burden on his members.

He said: "It is more than potentially damaging it is potentially destructive for small businesses who just won't be able to cope with someone disappearing for six months.

"While it is not fair to penalise fathers because they work for a small company, surely there has to be some understanding of just how important their contribution is to the business.

"Bigger companies have built-in cover, smaller businesses, particularly where a skill is involved, may have to train somebody up and will inevitably have to pay them a higher rate."

And he questioned the practicality of the bill, adding: "How is this going to work?

"If a new father asks his employer for six months paternity leave what proof is there that his wife has actually returned to work? Who is going to police this?"

The British Chambers of Commerce warned that the scheme could prove an "administrative nightmare" for small businesses.

Labour's manifesto for this May's election offered couples the opportunity to decide whether the mother or father took statutory parental leave following the birth of a child.

But reports suggest that Mr Johnson is now considering offering the six months' paternity leave instead, to be taken only if the child's mother has returned to work.

BCC director general David Frost said: "The issue for businesses is that plans to extend parental leave could not only be an administrative nightmare, but could leave firms without key staff for long periods of time.

"While employers want to actively support flexible working, the Government must realise that extending parental leave at such an unprecedented rate will add more confusion and pressure to firms who are already struggling to compete.

"This country is becoming less competitive, the UK economic climate is worsening and the Government needs to offer our firms support at this difficult time rather than burdening them with more damaging employment legislation."

Research published by the Equal Opportunities Commission suggests more than three-quarters of women want the option of transferring some of their maternity leave to their partner.

Tuesday, October 11 2005