Nearly 500 parents have been fined by Swindon Borough Council for taking their children out of school during term time over the last two years.

The numbers, part of an FOI request, also show that 12 sets of parents were taken to court over a refusal to pay, at a cost of nearly £4,000.

Among those to receive a fine were Mark Mularczyk, 35, and his wife Stacey, 32, from Walcot, who were penalised for taking their two children out of Holy Family Catholic Primary School for each of the last two years.

He said: “I asked for permission, but didn’t hear anything back from the school – [afterwards] they got back to me and said it was up to me to check whether I have permission.

“I wrote a letter, and said we’re taking the kids on holiday. I wish I’d taken them off sick now, but instead I thought I’d do the decent thing.

“It’s four days, and they still have 95 per cent attendance for the year.”

There were 211 prosecutions under section 444 of the Education Act by Swindon Borough Council over the academic year 2016/17, down from 266 the year before. For the 12 sets of parents whose cases progressed to court, the average cost to the council was £327.

Mark, who took his family on holiday during the last week of the school year to work around his job as a bricklayer, was critical of the council’s approach to pursuing parents under the legislation, after he faced £240 in fines for the most recent incident.

He said: “They are useless in there, they’re just after money all the time.

“I can see the council’s side of things, if your kid doesn’t go to school regularly. But when they have been at school all year round and you do the decent thing and write a letter, you still get fined.

“There’s no tolerance in it: they could have half a year off, or they could have a day off, and it’s the same fine.”

A spokesman for Swindon Borough Council said: “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 Department for Education is very clear in its guidance to schools and local authorities in that it expects them to promote good attendance and reduce absence.

“The council fully supports this approach as children with poor attendance tend to underachieve in both primary and secondary school.”