Parents could face fines of £60 if their children are just half an hour late for school

Parents in Britain could face fines of up to £60 or prosecution if their children are consistently late for school.

Schools and councils across the West Midlands, Hampshire, Sussex and Essex are threatening parents with the Fixed Penalty Notices of £60 per parent, per child.

According to the guidelines, the penalty could be doubled if it is not paid after 28 days, with the fine going up to £240 if a child arrives 30 minutes after registration.

West Sussex County Council issues a Fixed Penalty Notices (FPN) of £120 if a pupil is persistently late to school. This fine reduces to £60 if paid within 21 days.

Mrs Stalham, headteacher of Winter Gardens Academy, in Essex earlier warned parents they would face fines if children were consistently late.

"Any children arriving after 9am will be marked as late on the register as from April 1. Continuous late comers may be issued with a fixed penalty notice," she said.

The move sparked outrage amongst parents who slammed the scheme as a money-making opportunity for local councils.

Gary Underdone told Mail Online: "Absolutely ridiculous. It's just a money making opportunity yet again. Most of the parents on Canvey are probably single mums that won't be able to afford the fine anyway."

Laws introduced in 2003 enabled headteachers to fine parents of regular truants while children who regularly miss registration are also subject to penalties.

Tom Bennett, a behaviour expert appointed by the Government said rather than issuing fines to parents, teenagers who are regularly late for registration should face the embarrassment of walking into class with their parents.

"Most pupils would rather lose an arm than be seen walking up to school with their parents."