Seven parents have been fined hundreds of pounds for failing to send their children to school.

The parents – all of whom are not being named to protect the identities of the children affected – appeared at magistrates’ courts in Preston and Blackburn on charges brought by Lancashire County Council and Blackburn with Darwen Council.

In each case it was proven the defendants – three couples and one single parent – were parents of a child of compulsory school age registered at a school who failed to attend regularly.

The first couple, from Great Harwood, failed to ensure their son, aged 10, attended school for more than two months between January and March of this year.

At Preston Magistrates’ Court on August 21, they were fined £660 and ordered to pay costs of £120 and a victim surcharge of £264, making a total fine of just over £1,000.

The second couple, from the east of Blackburn, were proven to have failed to ensure their seven-year-old son attended school for a week in January of this year.

They were fined £42 at Preston Magistrates’ Court on August 10, and ordered to pay costs of £85 and a victim surcharge of £32.

The single parent in court, from the south west of Blackburn, failed to ensure her daughter regularly attended school for a large chunk of the school year, namely between September 2022 and April 2023.

She was fined £140 at Blackburn Magistrates’ Court on August 1, and ordered to pay costs of £300 and a victim surcharge of £56, making a total amouint of just under £500.

The final couple, from Blackburn, were found to have not ensured their child, 14, regularly attended school between the start of December 2022 and January 2023.

At Preston Magistrates’ Court on August 10, they were fined £220 and ordered to pay costs of £85 and a victim surcharge of £176, making a total fine of £481.

Parents or guardians must make sure their child gets a full-time education that meets their needs, either at school or through home schooling.

Parents can only allow their child to miss school if they are either too ill to go in, or they have advance permission from the school.

Term time holidays can only be taken with advance permission from the headteacher and in exceptional circumstances, and it is up to the headteacher how many days can be missed.

Parents who need help ensuring their child attends school can seek assistance from the school or local authority to agree a plan to improve a child's attendance and address any issues which are causing a child to miss school, such as issues at home or bullying.