A man who refused to pay a fine for taking his six-year-old daughter out of school for a family trip to Florida has won a ruling in his favour at the High Court.

Jon Platt was fined by Isle of Wight Council after he took his family on the holiday, which included a visit to Walt Disney World, without permission from his child's school.

He was originally fined £60. This was then doubled because of his refusal to pay.

The dispute went before Isle of Wight Magistrates' Court in October when Mr Platt won the case. But the local authority appealed against the decision at the High Court in London.

Today Lord Justice Lloyd Jones and Mrs Justice Thirlwall dismissed the council's challenge, ruling that the magistrates had not "erred in law" when reaching their decision.

The decision has been welcomed by a father in Swindon who earlier this month denied he had done anything wrong by taking his child out of school for a five day holiday when he came before magistrates sitting in Swindon.

In two separate hearings heard at Swindon Magistrates' Court, both sets of parents denied that they had failed to ensure the regular attendance of their children at school by taking them on five day holidays during term time.

Each child had attendance for the rest of the term of more than 92 per cent.

Upon hearing the High Court’s verdict, he said: "Congratulations to Mr Platt and for all of the hard work and effort he has gone to. Hopefully magistrates’ courts around the country will see this as some sort of turning point and won’t chase parents unnecessarily.”