HUNDREDS of Hampshire parents have been fined because their children have missed school.

In the past three years, 720 families have been issued with £50 fines - at least one for every school day - according to figures released by Hampshire County Council and Southampton City Council.

Outside the cities, Hampshire County Council has issued 234 penalty notices.

The Government introduced the fines, known as fixed penalty notices, in 2004 to crack down on habitual truants.

Council education bosses confirmed that fines were being given to parents of pupils who played truant without their knowledge, but also said that many were issued to families who went on holiday during term time without their school's permission.

Parents who refused to pay have been taken to court and fined as much as £350, while others have been ordered to carry out community service, adhere to a strict evening curfew, and even been hit with a suspended prison sentence.

However, the truancy statistics show that record numbers of primary pupils are skipping classes, while there has been a marginal improvement at secondary schools.

Jim McGilvery, Hampshire County Council's county attendance manager, said: "The law requires that the parents ensure their children attend school, not just that they send them to school.

"If a child is bunking off then the parent is still committing an offence. We try to support parents in resolving their children's atten-dance problems without resorting to legal sanctions but in some situations legal sanctions are necessary to reinforce the importance of making sure children attend school."

In Hampshire, 11 parents have also received Parenting Orders (POs), which require them to attend counselling or guidance sessions for up to three months.

They may have conditions imposed on them such as attending meetings with teachers at their child's school or ensuring that their child is at home at particular times.

These conditions can last for up to 12 months.

Parentline Plus Hampshire spokesman Gaynor Quilter said: "We believe passionately in support rather than blame and know from many thousands of calls to our free Parentline that punishment doesn't work as it adds to parents' isolation and anxiety."