PARENTS are happy to be hit with fines if it means they can save cash on their holidays, a travel advisor admitted as figures show a rise in fines.

Fresh figures have showed a record number of Southend parents being hit by fines for unauthorised absences, while the number of fines across Essex has also hit a new all-time high.

Holly Thomas, a travel advisor at Westway Travel in Thorpe Broadway, told the Echo the temptation of lower prices for a holiday means parents are willing to “take the fine”.

She said: “Personally, I’d say most parents don’t mind. If there is somewhere they want to go, they would go ahead with it, that’s what I have come across and what I have come up against, to be honest, if the price is right, if they would rather forfeit the £50 fine, they would take the holiday.

“Especially after the last few years, with the past years of the pandemic and all the strikes, families are desperate to get away. I am a prime example, we have taken maybe four days just before the half term because it was a cheaper price.

“To be honest, we book a load of holidays and it’s the price and cost that are important to most people here.”

Figures from the Department of Education show that Southend Council handed out 1,019 penalty notices to parents and guardians for their child’s persistent absence in the 2022-23 academic year, with 91 per cent due to student absences for holidays.

This was an increase from the year before and the highest on record since 2016.

Essex County Council handed out 12,953 penalties to parents during the same period.

Southend Tory cabinet member for education, Helen Boyd, said: “I can understand this, but it has a huge effect and there are statistics to say if a child is eight or nine that can make a huge difference to their learning.

“I have some sympathy, with the cost of holidays in term time, but it depends on the parents.

“If some find that £50 is worth taking the risk, you are creating an inequality, and it is a sledgehammer to raise fines.”