DJ tells mums not to breastfeed in public unless they're attractive

Dyke called breastfeeding "unnatural" and compared it to having sex in public. Photo / iStock.

A BBC local radio DJ sparked an outcry after claiming unattractive mothers should be banned from breastfeeding in public.

Alex Dyke said the practice was indulged by "librarian-type, moustached" women.

He claimed he was embarrassed after seeing a "big girl" breastfeeding on a bus and claimed "yummy mummies" know it's "not a great look". But following an angry backlash from listeners the BBC has suspended the broadcaster pending an investigation and is facing calls to sack him.

By yesterday more than 5,000 people had signed a petition calling for him to be axed from his job at BBC Radio Solent.

During a phone-in on Wednesday, Dyke called breastfeeding "unnatural" and compared it to having sex in public. He went on to claim that "men don't like it".

He said: "It was OK in the Stone Age when we knew no better and people didn't even have their own teeth. A public area is not the place for it." The father of three said it was a "special breed" of women who breastfed, adding: "I blame the earth mothers, the ones who wear hessian."

Even when challenged on his Facebook site, Dyke refused to back down, saying: "My point was fat chavvy mums with their boobs out on buses isn't a good look. A classy discreet mum is absolutely fine." Anne Marie O'Leary, of parenting site Netmums called his comments "silly" and not worthy of an "educated and impartial" broadcasting corporation. The National Childbirth Trust called the outburst "outdated, ridiculous and potentially damaging" while Mumsnet said women who breastfeed were being given a "public shaming".

Outraged mothers also inundated the station's social media pages to protest, with 14 lodging formal complaints with broadcast watchdog Ofcom.

One listener likened Dyke to Steve Coogan's tactless comedy character Alan Partridge. Another, Eli Murton, said: "You don't like seeing women feed? DON'T LOOK."

Maisie Jameson, who set up the petition calling for Dyke to be fired, called him an "ill-educated misogynist". Dyke apologised to listeners yesterday before the BBC confirmed he was now off air following "unacceptable comments".

The row comes six months after BBC Radio Norfolk's Nick Conrad was criticised for saying women should "keep their knickers on" during a discussion about rape.

- Daily Mail