ALTON Police, along with education officers from Hampshire County Council, undertook a series of sweeps on Friday April 19, to tackle the problem of young people playing truant.

The sweeps were part of a countywide programme to catch truants in the act.

Patrols were sent out to talk to youngsters on the streets who were not in school, and if they were playing truant, individuals were taken back to the classroom and their parents notified.

Ten youngsters were caught in Alton during the course of the day, and have been registered by the county council and police, and follow-up action will be taken, including advice and guidance.

Officers used new powers given under the Crime and Disorder Act (1998), which allow them to return children to school or another safe place. Previously, they were restricted to verbal warnings.

SEO Tony Lea from Alton Police Station said: "The job of the truancy teams was made much harder due to the fact that Amery Hill School had an in-service say on Friday, so there were far more children on the streets than on a normal day.

"This also meant that the number of children caught, and the distribution of these children between the local schools, is probably not a true reflection of the situation."

Don Allen, Hampshire County Council's executive member for education, said: "The county council, working with Hampshire police, carried out a number of sweeps last week as part of a strategy to tackle truancy.

"We are in the process of collating the results and, once this has been completed, we will be looking at them in detail to identify any appropriate follow-up action with individuals.

"We are already noticing that a majority of the children who were stopped were with a parent or carer and in some cases they did not have a good reason for being away from school.

"For example, they were visiting relatives or on a family holiday.

"The number of children who play truant in Hampshire is tiny, with overall unauthorised absence rates below the national average. However, we are committed to ensuring that these are further reduced, enabling all pupils to get the very best start in life."

Shortly after the Hampshire sweeps took place, Education Secretary Estelle Morris announced a series of nationwide crackdowns on truancy and disruptive behaviour in schools.

The month-long sweeps will focus on the 33 worst performing local education authorities in the UK.

Approximately £66 million will be made available to the programme, which will include electronic registration systems in some schools so that children can be tracked throughout the school day.

Also, learning support units will be set up where needed, to give specialist help to disruptive pupils.

In an interview with the BBC, Ms Morris said: "If children are not in school they won't learn, and if, when they are in school they are really badly behaved, they don't only ruin their chances, but they ruin the learning chances of everybody in their class."