ONE of Kent's most famous residents, Sir Bob Geldof, has attacked the legal system for its treatment of fathers in custody battles.

It is contained in his essay The Real Love that Dare Not Speak Its Name: A Sometimes Coherent Rant", in which he also demands changes in the law governing access to children after couples break up.

The Sunday Times, which wrote about the essay and the book of writings - Children and Their Families: Contact, Rights and Welfare, quoted an extract in which he said: "Family law as it currently stands does not work. It is rarely of benefit to the child and promotes injustice, conflict and unhappiness on a massive scale."

Sir Bob, who bought Davington Priory at Faversham, underwent a hard-fought custody battle with his late wife, Paula Yates, after she left him to INXS singer Michael Hutchence.

He eventually won custody of their three daughters, Fifi Trixibelle, Peaches Honeyblossom, and Pixie, and is the legal guardian of Tiger Lily, Yates's daughter by Hutchence.