Parents of two primary school pupils from Truro were given a community under, an electronic tag, and placed under a curfew for three months, after pleading guilty to failing to ensure their children attended school.

Magistrates at Truro heard how a nine-year-old boy had 32 sessions of unauthorised absence out of a possible 184 sessions, and a seven-year-old girl had 35 unauthorised absences out of a possible 184.

The chairman warned the parents that they could be brought back to court and could face a prison sentence if they breached the curfew, which operates between 7pm and 7am.

They were also ordered to pay costs of £387 each and a victim surcharge of £85 for the absences, which occurred between October 2016 and March 2017.

Tracey Mclennan, Cornwall Council’s interim senior education welfare officer, said: “Education welfare officers in Cornwall work closely with schools, parents and pupils to try to sort out attendance issues.

“This may involve arranging home and school visits to discuss the situation.

“They will try to find out the reasons why the child is not attending school and take steps to try and get the child back into school.

“This includes offering support or signposting to other agencies.

“Prosecution is a last resort when everything else has failed.

“Where parents are finally taken to court for school attendance offences they do run the risk of being fined or sent to prison.”