EDUCATION chiefs have warned they are prepared to take increasing numbers of parents to court if they fail to send their children to school.

The tough reminder from education authority Durham County Council came after the mother of a ten-year-old pupil was fined £100 with £50 costs by magistrates in Consett.

The Durham education authority said it had made increasing use of its legal powers to reduce levels of truancy in recent years and stressed the maximum sentence now included a prison term.

"The maximum fine is £2,500, with a three-month prison sentence, for parents who fail to ensure their children attend school regularly," said Keith Mitchell, the county council's director of education.

"The responsibility for ensuring school attendance lies entirely with the parents. We try to work closely with them on attendance problems, but if a child's educational future is at risk because parents don't meet their legal responsibilities or don't co-operate with help offered by schools and the education authority, then we won't hesitate to use the legal powers available."

He said: "One of the main issues of concern is that some parents fail to attend court, but we are finding that the courts are increasingly imposing heavy fines on those who do not attend."

The county council has been at the forefront of several initiatives to tackle truancy that have since been adopted elsewhere.

These include joint police and education welfare officer sweeps of known truancy hot spots and the introduction of playground "passports" in a bid to create truancy-free zones.

Mr Mitchell said: "Although the figures show that the vast majority of pupils in County Durham attend school regularly, our campaign to minimise truancy remains a priority. We believe our present determined approach to dealing with irregular school attendance is having a significant impact on unauthorised absence levels throughout the county."