PARENTS in County Durham are being warned they face hefty fines and even jail if they let their children play truant from school.

Magistrates at Bishop Auckland recently fined one mother £500 with £50 costs after her 15-year-old turned up for school on only 78 days out of a possible 156.

But education officials at Durham County Council are warning that the Government is raising the maximum penalty for parents who do not ensure their children go to school regularly to £2,500 or a three-month jail sentence.

The council has pioneered several successful initiatives to tackle truancy that have been followed by councils elsewhere.

These include sweeps of known truancy "hot spots'' by teams of police and education welfare officers and the introduction of a playground passports.

So far this year, the council has taken 70 parents to court because of truancy.

Russell Lee, the council's principal education welfare officer, said: "The responsibility for ensuring school attendance lies entirely with parents.