It is half term for schools all over the country and British families hoping to go on a foreign holiday could pay up to 20 times more than if they chose to go next week.

The sky-high cost of jetting abroad to European destinations such as Spain, Greece and Portugal during the school holidays is putting huge pressure on parents to go abroad during term time and accept the fines for taking their children out of class.

Parents face a fine of £60 per parent for each child if taken out of school without permission for a week. This rises to £160 after 21 days, and then after 28 days parents can be taken to court. These figures are rising to £80 and £160 from August.