A Brighton firm of solicitors is working with the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) on a major campaign to protect the rights of pregnant women in the workplace.

The all-woman team at Martin Searle Solicitors will open an advice line and legal surgery for women concerned about maternity rights.

The Queen's Road firm is also planning a free seminar in March to help employers better understand their legal obligations to working mothers.

This will tie in with the publication of the EOC's Pregnant And Productive report into discrimination against pregnant women at work.

Interim findings released in September revealed "huge holes" in employers' understanding of the laws surrounding maternity.

Many firms simply flouted the law but most were unaware of their responsibilities - or of the financial help available to meet their responsibilities.

Every year more than 1,000 women take legal action, claiming they were sacked because of their pregnancy, according to the EOC. When the final report is published in March it is expected to call for changes in the law, including a statutory code of practice to help clarify existing legislation.