The parents of a five-year-old who was handed an invoice for missing his friend's Devon birthday party have expressed their disbelief at being threatened with court action.
Derek Nash and his partner discovered a £15.95 "no show fee" invoice after it was slipped into their son Alex's bag while he was at school.
The couple said they initially "thought it was a joke", but the issue has remained unresolved and the birthday boy's mother is now threatening small claims court.
The family confirmed that their son would be attending the party at a Plymouth ski and snow board centre just before the Christmas holidays.
But Mr Nash, from Torpoint in Cornwall, realised he had already arranged for their daughter to go on a day trip with her grandparents and had no way to contact the friend's mother.
"We did not have a contact number, email or an address to let the mother know," he explained.
"So on the day of the party we asked Alex what he wanted to do - he chose to be with his grandparents."
Alex Nash returned to Torpoint Nursery and Infant School on January 6, but just over a week later the family received the bill.
"My partner looked out for the friend's mother to apologise for Alex not showing up to the party, but didn't see her," said Mr Nash.
"But on January 15 she looked in Alex's school bag and found a brown envelope. It was an invoice for £15.95 for a child's party no show fee.
"I asked Alex's class teacher if the child's mother had given anything to her. She said, 'Yes, a brown envelope'.
"I then visited Alex's school headteacher, who couldn't apologise enough that one of the teachers had passed this on. She said she would remind all staff that this was a breach of protocol."
Mr Nash said he left the school to discuss the matter with the birthday boy's mother in person.
"When she answered the door I told her I had found the invoice in my son's school bag and that I wasn't happy about it.
"I told her I would not be paying her the money. I told her she should have spoken to me first and not put the invoice in my son's school bag.
"I would have sympathised with her about the cost of Alex not showing up, but I just can't believe the way she has gone around it."
The unnamed mother has since threatened the family that she would take the case to a small claims court, while the birthday boy will no longer play with Mr Nash's son at school.
