PARENTS who took their children out of a Bournemouth school for an unauthorised holiday have been fined.

The couple, who cannot be named, each admitted two counts of being the parent of a child of compulsory school age registered at a school who failed to attend regularly.

Magistrates sitting at the Poole court on Thursday morning heard the couple's young sons were taken out of their school between January 5 and January 13 2017.

Attendance of 96 per cent is expected at the school.

However, one of the boys had 89.01 per cent attendance between September 2016 and July of this year. The second has attendance of 92.58 per cent over the same timespan.

The boys' mum told magistrates: "I know we've done wrong."

She said both she and her partner work "50 weeks a year".

"It's the only time we can go away as a family," she said.

"We go away with my parents."

The couple were fined £250 each. With court costs and the victim surcharge, each defendant must pay a total of £389.50.