BOLTON Evening News reports on truancy in the town are heading straight to the top of the class after requests from Secretary of State for Education David Blunkett and Home Secretary Jack Straw's department.

Education chiefs in Bolton say they have been asked to send copies of the BEN to the Department for Education and Employment (DfEE) following last week's coverage of the council's crackdown on truants in the town centre.

A BEN reporter followed police and social services officers as they toured Bolton town centre for children who should have been at school.

In one day 57 youngsters were quizzed; 40 of them were with their parents.

Excuses for skipping school ranged from the tried and tested "not feeling well" to one teenager who had been given time off to get her tongue pierced.

The council action came immediately prior to a joint announcement by Mr Blunkett and Mr Straw that they were to pump an extra £43m into a nationwide campaign to target truants.

Mr Barry Scanlon, assistant director of education in Bolton, said that it looked like the bulk of the money was destined to support the police's work and vowed that the purge on truancy would continue.

"Thanks to the publicity in the BEN we have managed to get the message home that skipping school simply isn't an option," he said.

"The DfEE has asked local authorities to send them good examples of how anti-truancy measures are being put into practice.

"When they heard about the BEN's reports, they asked to have them forwarded with the intention of putting them before Mr Blunkett."

Mr Blunkett (right) told the BEN: "I applaud the splendid effort being carried out in Bolton in tackling truancy and shall be looking at the results as I develop the latest national strategy.

"I am delighted at the efforts of Bolton police and education welfare officers have made to tackle this serious problem."

A spokesman for Jack Straw added: "Mr Straw is gathering information from successful truancy sweeps such as those in Bolton and his own Blackburn constituency to plan the best way to tackle the problem."