A YOUNG Carlisle man has been banned from seeing his pregnant partner - though magistrates have ruled that he can be present when the baby is born.

The couple's dilemma came to light as Cumbria Police applied to the city's Rickergate Magistrates' Court for a domestic violence protection order.

Such civil orders can be made when a court is persuaded that a partner was subjected to - or threatened with - violence.

In this case, the defendant - a young man in his 20s - opposed the imposition of the order.

After hearing representations from a Cumbria Police lawyer, magistrates granted the order for a period of 28 days.

It states that the defendant must not "molest" the woman - the father of his unborn child - and nor must he encourage any other person to do this.

The order adds that the defendant must not contact the woman - except for official appointments in a public place with professionals present and also when his child is born so he can be present at the birth.

He will be allowed to attend "emergency appointments" linked to his ex-partner's pregnancy. The man must leave the home he shared with the woman and not go within 100 metres of it.