Record fines after truancy

A COUPLE have been ordered to pay record fines because their son has been playing truant from school, it was revealed last night. David and Karen Seaton were fined a pounds 1,000 after being taken to court for failing to ensure 15-year old Steven attended Marple Hall School, near Stockport.

The order - imposed at Stockport magistrates' court and in Mr and Mrs Seaton's absence - comes as a boost to Tony Blair's crackdown on truanting pupils. Passing sentence magistrates said it was the "parents' responsibility to ensure that their child attended school".

Under the 1996 Education Act, the Department for Education and Employment requires that local authorities do everything within their power to enforce school attendance, and this can lead to prosecution.