A North-East mother jailed for allowing her teenage daughter to skip school said last night that the prosecution had been a waste of money.

Pamela Nunn, of Tarring Street, Stockton, claimed she had been punished for trying to protect her child from bullying.

The claim was made on the day teachers' unions backed calls for a more flexible curriculum after a report found the Government had failed to cut truancy.

The Department for Education and Skills has spent £885m since 1997 on measures to improve school attendance, and the overall rate of absence has dropped from 7.6 per cent to 6.7 per cent of school days.

But the rate of truancy has remained steady at about 0.7 per cent, a report by Whitehall spending watchdog the National Audit Office said.

Ms Nunn was jailed on Thursday for 14 days after a court heard her daughter had attended school only 38 times in 2003 to 2004 - an average of once a week for the year.

She pleaded guilty to failing to ensure her child attended classes.

The sentence handed out by Teesside Magistrates' Court is believed to be the toughest punishment yet imposed on a North-East parent for the offence.

The 48-year-old appealed immediately after she was sentenced.

At Teesside Crown Court yesterday, Judge Tony Briggs, sitting with four justices, altered the sentence when Ms Nunn agreed to complete a 30-hour community rehabilitation order instead of going back to jail.

The judge warned her that she faced a tough sentence if her 13-year-old daughter continued to fail to attend Blakeston Community School, in Stockton.

Ann Baxter, corporate director of children, education and social care at Stockton Borough Council, said: "Legal action is used as a last resort. This sentence demonstrates how seriously non-attendance is taken."

Last night, Ms Nunn, who has six children but only one of school age, said she had been unfairly treated. She claimed her daughter had been the victim of bullying.

She had taken her to school a number of times, but her daughter had run away again. Social workers had not been able to contact her because the family had recently moved.

Ms Nunn, who said she was once put behind bars for a weekend for the same problem, said: "I was told that my daughter would only have to attend school for one hour a day, but I said 'My child will go to school just the same as any other normal girl.'

"It is ridiculous to take me to court and put me in jail, and they don't even want her to go to school as normal.

"I was told by my solicitor that if my child was very badly behaved and expelled that I would not be taken to court. But, because she is bullied and I can't make her go to school, I end up being put in jail.

"There was no problem with my oldest children going to school, and I want my daughter to get the best chance she can.

"The Government has put all this taxpayers' money into this issue and it is not making any difference at all. It's a waste of money."

Ms Nunn said she would be taking her daughter to school on Monday and would contact police immediately if she found she ran away.

The teenager said she was in tears when she heard her mother had been sent to jail and wanted to go back to school.

"I hate it there - but I don't want my mum to go to jail," she said.

Elaine Kay, northern regional secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said the law was needed as an ultimate deterrent.

Councillor Paul Thompson, executive member for education on Middlesbrough Council, said: "This decision emphasises the fact that the courts are quite rightly taking the issue of non-attendance extremely seriously.

"Parents who don't ensure their children attend school regularly deprive them of a fair start in life and jeopardise their future.

"We will take court action whenever it is necessary, and they must face the consequences."

The toughest sentence previously imposed on Teesside went to Marion O'Donnell, 45, after a prosecution brought by Middlesbrough Council.

She was given a two-year community rehabilitation order by magistrates.