A campaign has been launched to remove The Sun newspaper from “family-friendly” cafés in a bid to shield children from Page 3.

Louise Restell, of St Albans, was unhappy at seeing the famous red top sitting next to a box of toys at her usual café and claims it is too easily available to youngsters.

Now she is calling for all family-orientated businesses to remove their copies of The Sun or at least take out Page 3, after taking inspiration from the national No More Page 3 campaign, which aims to stamp out the objectification of woman.

The communications specialist approached the manager of the cafe in question who was “very nice about it” and said it hadn’t occurred to him it may be an issue.

He decided to keep having The Sun available for his customers as lots of them asked for it but said he would think about what Louise was suggesting.

Louise said: “People can bring in their own copies if they want, obviously, but I would want any copies left lying around to be binned or have Page 3 removed.

“It’s hard to define family-friendly, but I’d say it’s any cafe that has special provision for kids, those with books, toys, or a kids menu. No idea if it’s achievable or not, but there’s no harm in trying!”

The mother-of-one went on: “Of course, I can’t stop people reading The Sun, but I hope I can stop it being readily available for viewing in places I go with my five-year-old daughter.

“I’ll admit I am terrified about protecting her from the impact of all the sexualised images that will increasingly bombard her as she grows up.”

Last week, she took to Facebook to drum up support and voice her concerns over the publication being so easily available to children.

But reactions to her suggestion of removing the red top have been mixed, as she explained: “There were some in support but many were suggesting I should just turn the paper over or move tables.”

Louise added that one social media user wrongly suggested she was calling for Page 3 models to lose their jobs, adding: “Very few comments at all were about the real problem of Page 3, which is the message it sends out about women’s place and role in society to both girls and boys.

“I would say the majority of people who posted on the Facebook discussion in ‘St Albans Mums’ were against my view, but most of the people I’ve spoken to or heard from outside that forum have supported me.”

A few other cafes in central St Albans also stock the paper and Louise’s next step is to approach them too: “My plan this week is to write to all the ones I can think of asking if they can remove it and then set up a web page for others to do the same if they want to.”

For more information and to keep up with Louise’s campaign visit: http://lrestell.wordpress.com/ or https://www.facebook.com/NoPage3inStAlbans