Three Swindon families face prosecution for failing to ensure their children go to school.

If found guilty when they appear at Swindon Magistrates Court in early December, they each face a fine of up to £1,000.

The prosecutions follow the launch this September of a joint initiative between Swindon Education Welfare Department and Swindon Police.

The scheme, aimed at reducing truancy by encouraging parents to ensure that their children attend school, gives parents of known truants four weeks to improve their child's record. It can lead to the prosecution of the parents if the situation is not satisfactorily improved.

The aim, say the council and police, is to reduce truancy in order to increase the level of education that pupils receive, improve their long-term job prospects and reduce their need to turn to crime to support themselves.

The move follows the identification of Swindon's secondary schools as having an unacceptable absence level and Swindon Council is worried that parents are ignoring their children's truancy.

The Government has also been looking closely at this issue in recent weeks and is set to increase the maximum fine to £2,500. It has also considered introducing the option for custodial sentencing.

Authorities have been concentrating on one north Swindon school until now, but will continue to look at other schools in the town throughout the current educational year.