Mothers across Britain are finding it increasingly difficult to balance their professional and home lives and would benefit considerably from more flexible employment practices, it has been suggested.

Writing in the Telegraph recently, mother of four and founder of mumsnet.com Justine Roberts insists that employers in the UK should be more receptive to the needs of the country’s working mums.

Ms Roberts, who has taken the chance to work from home, is convinced that Britain is currently lagging behind other European countries when it comes to implementing smarter working practices that benefit parents with demanding jobs.

"For many mums, there’s the pressure not only to work but to maintain a career in a nation that puts in some of the longest working hours in western Europe," she writes.

"Unlike lots of our European neighbours who have adopted more family-friendly flexible working practices, in Britain most decent jobs still require 120 per cent from the people who do them, not the 50 per cent that is all that might be available."

Research carried out by the telecoms firm Avaya recently showed that many of the world’s leading business executives now take advantage of technology that allows them to work from home.