A FAMILY have accused the council of wasting time and public money in an effort to bring about a prosecution for taking their child out of school during term time.

Mother-of-two Natasha Staniford, 30, of Wichelstowe, took her son Camden Wallace, six, out of East Wichel Community Primary School last May for a family holiday to Cyprus.

The holiday was intended to mark the anniversary of the death of a family member.

But Natasha, who takes medication to treat depression and who can sometimes struggle to cope when things get overwhelming, returned home to discover she was to be fined £60 by Swindon Borough Council.

Natasha was convinced she had done nothing wrong, especially as she had asked the school to provide homework for Camden to complete while on holiday to ensure he didn’t miss out on any education.

“I was very upset and angry when I received the fine – I didn’t need the stress of it all,” she said.

“Camden had a really good school report and it was the first time he had ever been taken out of school.”

The initial £60 penalty was upped to £120 when she refused to pay.

According to her Camden’s attendance for 2015-16 school year was, 92 per cent.

To make matters worse, the court date kept being postponed. The first time Natasha was due to face magistrates she was kept waiting for hours when the prosecutor failed to turn up.

Later the trial had to be adjourned again while prosecutors sought more information.

Natasha was due to appear in court again last week, but she claims to have been approached by a representative from the council who said the case was to be dropped due to it not being in the public interest to prosecute.

“The case should never have gone this far,” she said.

“It should have been dropped then when the prosecutor didn’t turn up at first.”

Natasha’s step-father, Paul Dunn, 53, attended the court to support her.

He said: “The council has completely wasted tax payer’s money, it’s a debacle.

"The whole process needs looking at and reviewing. It was a complete joke from start to finish.”

A Swindon Borough Council spokesman said: “The council has revised its policy for school non-attendance in the wake of previous court hearings at Salisbury Magistrates’ Court.

“The council is now assessing attendance over a 24-week period and, under the new criteria, their child’s attendance was above the 90 per cent threshold.

“It is important to reiterate that the council issues penalty notices for unauthorised absence on behalf of schools and only does so after giving careful consideration to the facts of each individual case.

"The DfE is very clear in its guidance to schools and local authorities in that it expects them to promote good attendance and reduce absence.”