PARENTS dropping their children off early to school will now be expected to pay approximately £150 a year for the privilege.

Gwynedd Council has announced plans to charge parents 80p per child a day if they want their kids to attend the county-wide school Breakfast Club Scheme before 8.25am

The local authority said they are having to introduce the charge as they struggle with mounting budget cuts.

They believe that the fee –around £4 a week – will cover a proposed £100,000 cut in funding for the scheme, while also covering the administrative costs of collecting the fees.

Between 8.25am and 8.50am, where the breakfasts themselves are served, parents will not have to pay the charge.

Parents with three or more children will be given a discount.

In a report, the council said: “Following a consultation period, it is recommended to charge a fee of 80p for the childcare element before the breakfast club, giving a discount to families with three or more children, with these arrangements to commence on 6 November 2017.

Gwynedd Council’s head of finance Dafydd Edwards said he believed the fee would help cover the cuts to the budget.

Read the full story in this Thursday’s north editions of the Cambrian News