Primary school children in Hammersmith and Fulham missed more days of school than kids in any other Inner London borough last year.

Government figures revealed the borough's 7,600 primary pupils missed 6.11 per cent of half days last year, 1.18 per cent of which were truant, the rest of which were authorised.

Just over two per cent of students were classed as being persistently absent, having missed more than 20% of available half days that year. This was the third worst rate out of Inner London's 14 boroughs.

Secondary school students faired slightly better, with the borough recording less truancies than the majority of areas, with a figure of 1.36 per cent. Overall absence stood at 7.13 per cent, relatively high, while there were 5 per cent persistent absentees.

Countrywide truancy figures reached a record high of 1.05 per cent and, although the government aims to reduce absence rates so that no local authority has more than five per cent persistent absentees by 2011, a leading truancy expert is warning the government needs to get tough to sort out the problem.

Stephen Clarke, managing director of Truancy Call, makers of a communication system which links schools and parents, said: "If the government is to take real action against parents taking children out of school during term-time and stop potentially vulnerable groups of young people from slipping through the net, local authorities need to have a coherent and systematic approach to monitoring and tracking pupils.

"Parents are breaking the law if they fail to ensure their child’s regular attendance at school, so holiday applications need to be closely monitored. Taking children away from school during term-time for whatever reason can disrupt their education, particularly at a crucial stage in their school career.”

Hammersmith and Fulham Council claimed last year had in fact been a positive one, with average attendance across all its schools rising by 0.11 per cent, which works out at about 1,500 less absences than the previous year.

Andrew Christie, head of children's services, said: "These figures do not reflect what is actually a positive story. More children attended secondary school than ever before, and attendance records at five of those schools improved from the previous year. While only 1.5 per cent of absences were unauthorised, this is still too high - especially in our primary schools - as we want every child to make the most of their education.

"It is one of our key priorities to reduce the number of pupils missing school, and we work closely with parents and teachers to find innovative ways of doing this. We use a text messaging service which alerts parents when their child does not turn up at school, and children are rewarded for having good attendance records, by going on trips to football matches for example.

"Our schools also actively discourage parents from taking their children on holiday during term time. Some parents whose children persistently fail to attend school have even been prosecuted."

The best attended primary school was Pope John in White City, the best secondary was Sacred Heart, Hammersmith, while the most improved were St Paul's Primary, Hammersmith and Henry Compton, Fulham.