RADCLIFFE MP Ivan Lewis is spearheading a move which could see parents fined up to £100 by a headteacher for taking their family on holiday during term time.

Going on holiday without a school's permission is tantamount to truancy, said the junior education minister.

From early in the New Year, head teachers will have the power -- under the Anti-Social Behaviour Act recently passed by Parliament -- to issue on-the-spot fines of up to £100 to parents of children who play truant.

The fines are primarily intended as a "wake-up" call to parents who repeatedly let their children miss school. The alternative is a court prosecution and a possible prison sentence.

But the Government stressed that fines could be handed out for a first-time offence, such as term-time holidays taken without the approval of the head teacher.

The Bury South MP said: "Taking a holiday during term time can mean that children miss important school time and coursework and it will be difficult for them to catch up later on.

"Taking a child out of school for a holiday without the head's permission is unacceptable and will be treated as truancy."

Headteachers can give permission for children to be absent for up to 10 days of a school year, for instance where parents cannot take leave during the summer. But Mr Lewis said term-time holidays should be "the exception, not the rule".

The Department for Education and Skills has also teamed up with the Association of British Travel Agents to urge parents to book family trips in official school holidays.

But this could also annoy parents who believe travel firms hike the price of package deals during school holidays, especially in July and August.

ABTA chief executive Ian Reynolds said: "Our members always encourage families to book early by providing excellent early discounts and free child places for what are always busy school holiday periods.

"Booking now means getting holidays at a good price, getting maximum choice and also means that your children's education doesn't suffer."

The net is tightening on in truants in the borough. Last year 33 parents were prosecuted because their children regualrly failed to attend school, and in the run-up to Christmas, pupils caught out of school were given a police escort back to the classroom.