THREATENING to call in the bailiffs to recover money owed by parents to a Derby school has forced them to cough up.

Simon Emsley hit the headlines after he had exhausted other ways in which he could recover more than £2,000 owed to his school by at least 10 families.

But before he could carry out his threat, a delighted Mr Emsley has received £1,500 owed by parents for trips and dinner money at Lakeside Community Primary School.

"The threat and the publicity seem to have had the desired effect on the parents concerned," said Mr Emsley.

Mr Emsley became angry after his repeated demands for payment fell on deaf ears and a hardcore of families failed to pay up for trips and meals their children had received.

He said: "I felt I needed to get tough because the non-payment has been eating into the school budget and we have to plug the gap from money set aside for other things.

"The selfish actions of a few people have been spoiling things for the majority, especially after I had to cancel the trip to the pantomime in Derby last year.

"It is free to all pupils but we did not have the spare money in our budget because each year a hardcore of parents don't pay us what they owe."

The parental debt problem is not limited to Lakeside school and it is believed that across the city thousands of pounds are owed to schools by parents and the debt is often written off when children move schools.

Schools are responsible for recovering money and ensuring their budgets break even.

Three years ago, the city council suggested head teachers should write to parents to ask for the money.

But Mr Emsley said sending letters had not worked.

His threat – revealed first in the Derby Telegraph – attracted attention nationally and he even appeared on breakfast television to explain the situation.

He said: "I was concerned that I was being too harsh at first. But acting gently was not working and so a harder approach was needed."

Usually, the families involved are not among those considered to be suffering financial hardship, whose children already receive free meals.

Another head teacher, who has had a similar problem, but did not wish to be named said: "It seems to have worked at Lakeside but I am not sure all head teachers would like to threaten in case they were forced to carry it out."

Mike Welsh, vice-president of the National Association of Head Teachers, said: "This has been a problem for some time but the economic recession is making it worse."