Travel firms cash in on school breaks

Holiday firms were today accused of cashing in on school holidays by doubling the prices of family breaks.

The revelation in a new survey comes as the Government attempts to prevent parents removing their children from school during term to take cheaper holidays.

Schools watchdog Ofsted estimates that four million school days are lost every year.

Poorest families are hit hardest because the largest increases in prices are at lower-cost resorts.

The price of a week for a family of four in a deluxe apartment at Butlins in Minehead, Somerset, rockets by £240 to £772 in the spring half-term holiday.

It peaks at £1,036 during summer holidays - double what it would cost in late September when children are at school. Then by October's half-term holiday the cost creeps up again to £688.

A family holiday in Dordogne almost doubles in the summer break. And a trip to Barbados increases from £3,754 in the spring term to ? 5,017 by the summer holidays.

Patricia Yates, editor of Holiday Which? magazine, said: "Operators check the dates of holidays before parents do, to cash in. The increases have become so ridiculous that many families are pulling children out of school to travel in term time." A spokesman for Butlins said: "Like other holiday destinations, our prices are governed by supply and demand.

"We are always full in the school holidays but have to drop prices for the rest of the year to make off-peak times more attractive."

The Association of British Travel Agents said: "Families locked into travelling during school holidays pay considerably more, but this could change with proposals for a new six-term school year. That could flatten out prices by spreading the surges of demand across the year."

Education Secretary Estelle Morris has attacked parents who take children out of school to go on holiday.