A five-year-old British boy was handed an invoice for a "Child's Party No Show Fee" and threatened with court action after missing his schoolmate's birthday party to spend the day with his grandparents.

Torpoint Nursery and Infant School in southern England said that one of their teachers had been asked to pass on an envelope from the birthday boy's mother to youngster Alex Nash as he returned from the Christmas break.

Inside, father Derek Nash found a demand for £15.95 ($24.18, 20.85 euros), according to British press reports.

The invoice seemed to appear as if it came from Plymouth Ski Slope, the venue of the "slide and ride" party that included three toboggan rides, a hot meal, ice cream, jelly and balloons.

"It was a proper invoice with full official details and even her bank details on it," Nash, 45, told the British press.

Having not yet paid the bill, the family is now threatened with action in the small claims court, which deals with minor civil disputes.

"The money isn't the issue, it's the way she went about trying to get the money from me."

Julie Lawrence, who issued the invoice, stood by her demand in a statement issued to the press.

"All details were on the party invite. They had every detail needed to contact me," she said.

Nash said he had lost Lawrence's contact details.

The ski slope manager said they would never issue invoices for no-shows, and that their address had been "fraudulently" added to the bill.

"Apart from the fact they had the party here, we have nothing else to do with it," Louisa Duggan told AFP.