Millions of extra parents will be offered the right to ask for time off work under legislative proposals to be unveiled by Prime Minster Gordon Brown next week, the Financial Times reported on Saturday.

The plans would form part of Brown's fightback against a slump in his popularity that saw his ruling Labour party routed in local elections earlier this month, the paper said.

The right to request flexible working is currently restricted to parents whose children are under six or disabled.

The paper said an independent review by Imelda Walsh, human resources director of supermarket J Sainsbury, would recommend more than doubling the age limit up to as much as 16.

Downing Street declined to comment on the report, attributed to "insiders".

The change would benefit an extra 4.5 million parents, on top of the 6 million already covered by the existing rules, according to Whitehall estimates.

Walsh was commissioned by the government last November to see how the right to request flexible working could be extended to parents of older children.

Her report will be published next week, a spokeswoman for the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform confirmed.

The recommendations will be put out to a three-month consultation and if agreed would become law in April next year, the spokeswoman added.

Business groups have already signalled their opposition to an expansion of the scheme.

Manufacturers' organisation EEF says any extension should be delayed until firms have adjusted to the current regulations.

"Whilst manufacturers have seen benefits from the introduction of flexible working, the last thing they need now is to have to consider more and more requests," said EEF director Peter Schofield.