A TOTAL of 99 children were caught in Bolton town centre during a joint operation with the police to crack down on truants.

The figure is the largest single number of children stopped during a truancy sweep and officers from the Local Education Authority (LEA) have reacted to the results with dismay.

"Clearly the message that school is not an option but a necessity is still not getting through," said LEA principal education social worker Ian Price. "But we will continue to conduct these sweeps and continue to crackdown on truants using the full weight of the law if necessary until the message does get through."

Seven education social workers teamed up with the same number of police officers to tour the town centre and stop and question children of school age.

Of the 99 stopped 26 were in the town centre on their own. These were taken to a room at the town hall where they were further questioned and then returned to school by minibus.

A letter will now be sent to the parents of those stopped informing them of their child's absence from school.

Mr Price said that the remaining 74 were either with their parents or had a legitimate reason for not being in school. "Six pupils all said they should have been in a mock exam but had been sent home because of problems with the school's heating system," he said. "We were able to check this by calling the school on the spot and it proved to be true.

"Of the others, the vast majority were out shopping with their parents. One woman was taking her child for an appointment at the hairdresser."

Mr Price said another child had been sent out for the family shopping.

"We contacted the parents and they asked whether the child had managed to finish the shopping before being caught," he said. "So clearly some people are not taking their child's attendance at school as seriously as they should be."

A truancy sweep this time last year in Farnworth caught 53 children while one in the town centre last October caught 57.

"We expected the figure to be high given the time of year and the fact that it was the town centre, but it is still totally unacceptable," said Mr Price. "The attendance of every child we have stopped will be monitored from now on and while we try to avoid it we will use court action if necessary."

Recently introduced laws mean parents who persistently fail to keep their child in school can face three months in prison or a £3,500 fine.

"We have never used these maximum penalties in Bolton before but we cannot rule them out for the future," warned Mr Price.

As well as the deterrent qualities of regular truancy sweeps Mr Price praised initiatives undertaken by individual schools to keep youngsters in the classroom.

On Saturday the BEN revealed how Breightmet's Withins School, which has highlighted tackling truancy as one of its highest priorities, has started a competition in which one pupil won a £2,000 trip to Florida for his family for staying in school and performing well.

The school aims to offer smaller cash incentives to pupils next year for regular attendances.

Mr Price said: "Schemes such as this are not only to be encouraged but they are to be applauded.

"Bolton has been given close on £1 million by the Government to combat issues such as truancy, so money used in this way is well spent."