BOLTON parents will face fines of up to £100 if they take children on unauthorised holidays during school term times from September.

And, if offending parents cannot pay or will not pay, the fine will double. And if that is not paid, then they will be taken to court.

Education chiefs are planning to introduce a system in the new school year where each parent will be given a £50 fine for each child they take on holiday during term time, without the school's permission. Each parent or carer of the child in question will be fined individually for each child. For example, if two parents had three children they would be fined £300.

If parents do not pay within 28 days the fine will rise to £100. After 42 days, if the fines have still not been paid, parents will face prosecution and a possible jail sentence.

The local education authority is also planning to issue "penalty notices" to parents of persistent truants.

Ian Price, Principal Education Social Worker said: "The way the system operates, we have to issue somebody with a warning before we can issue a penalty notice."

"If the parent does not pay, the LEA can do either one of two things. Either we can withdraw the notice or prosecute for the offence of non school attendance."

Before a penalty notice can be issued to parents of persistent truants, the LEA has to build up a body of evidence of non-attendance and parents must be sent a warning. Once they have received a warning the parents have a minimum of 15 days to effect an improvement which has to be sustained.

The exact policy and procedure is still in the process of being decided. and LEA staff are holding policy workshops where they are sorting out the details. Mr Price said the Bolton policy will be one of the most effective in the country as they are thinking through the issues before handing out the penalty.

The first penalty notice is expected to be issued at the end of October. In cases where parents take children on unauthorised holidays during term time the procedure will be different. Parents will receive a letter warning them if they do take the children on the holiday they will be fined.

A fixed penalty notice will be posted through their door if they go ahead with the holiday. Mr Price said: "In those circumstances I would have no compunction whatsoever about issuing a penalty notice to them through the post."

Mr Price said he hopes the penalty notices will eat into any financial benefit parents might expect to get from booking a holiday out of peak season when prices are lower.

Mr Price said: "We hope to see the effect of this next year."

Schools have the discretion to authorise holidays in term time under exceptional circumstances.

Under existing truancy laws, parents who fail to ensure their children go to school can face fines of up to £2,500 or three months in jail.