HAMPSHIRE parents have been fined more than £500,000 in a year for taking their children out of school, it has been revealed.

New data has shown the number of fines issued for unauthorised school absences across the county has gone up since 2017.

Hampshire parents were handed £503,117 in fines between 2018 and 2019 across a total of 16,565 penalty notices for unauthorised absences from school.

This is a 27 per cent increase since 2017 and 2018 when 13,508 fines were issued amounting to a total of £393,922.

The data also revealed that 765 fines issued to Hampshire parents in 2018-19 were not paid within 28 days and had resulted in court action, 101 more than the year before.

The figures have been released by training course provider The Knowledge Academy.

Joseph Scott, from the academy, said there could be many reasons for the increase, including the cost of holidays during half terms.

He added: “Parents believe they shouldn’t be criminalised for such an action.”