FINES issued to parents for failing to ensure their child is attending school have sky-rocketed in Wiltshire and Gloucestershire over the last two years.

Fines for unauthorised holidays or late arrivals stand at £60 which must be paid in 21 days, rising to £120 if paid between 21 and 28 days, and then taken to a magistrate’s court thereafter.

If found guilty at magistrate’s court parents who do not keep their children in school can face fines as high as £2500 and a prison sentence of up to three months.

From September 2012 to September 2013 Wiltshire Council issued a total of 752 fines and took 82 people to court.

Of these fines, 341 were issued to parents with children in primary schools and 411 were for parents with children in secondary schools in the region.

Between September 2013 and July 2014 this number almost doubled, reaching 1,496 with only 36 being taken to court.

Primary schools accounted for 409 of these fines while 1087 were issued to parents of secondary school children.

In Gloucestershire just 46 fines were issued in September 2012 to September 2013, almost 16 times fewer than in Wiltshire in the same period.

Of these 11 were for primary school students and 35 were for secondary school pupils.

Between September 2013 and July 2014 Gloucestershire County Council issued 134 penalty notices, with 76 being issued on behalf of primary schools and 58 for students not attending secondary schools.

Gloucestershire County Council fined far fewer parents overall but took more to court than Wiltshire Council, bringing 116 cases from September 2012 to September 2013 and 61 from September 2013 to July 2014.

Before September 2013 head teachers were allowed to approve up to 10 days each year as holiday in special circumstances, but new rules are stricter and only allow these days off in exceptional circumstances.

Research conducted by the BBC earlier this year revealed that almost 64,000 fines had been issued since the change in the law by the 118 local authorities that responded.

Although there has been a sharp rise in fines the latest government statistics show that the overall absence rate fell between autumn 2012 and autumn 2013, reaching the lowest levels since term by term data started being collected.

A Department for Education spokesman said: "Poor attendance at school can have a hugely damaging effect, and children who attend school regularly are nearly four times more likely to achieve five or more good GCSEs than those who are regularly absent.”