Truant officers handed out 4280 fines to parents whose children were not at school when they should be last year, the Telegraaf reports this morning. The figure is a slight decrease on the 2003-2004 school year figures, but 35% up on the previous year.

Many of the fines were given to parents who took their children off school for extra holidays. Some 75% of the so-called luxury absentees were primary school children.