COUNCIL officers in Darlington collared 80 children who should have been in school on a one-day operation to track down truants.

Many of them were shopping with parents in the town centre on Friday when they should have been in lessons.

Last year, hundreds of thousands of school hours were missed by truants in the town, according to attendance figures.

More than 170,000 half days were missed by children in secondary schools and more than 130,000 half days in primary.

Darlington Borough Council launched a campaign to tackle the truancy problem in September, with monthly 'sweeps' being carried out by education welfare officers and police around the borough.

Children who are stopped have to give their names and a letter is then sent to their school. Parents with children are warned that they could face prosecution.

An authority spokesman said this week: "The idea of the sweeps is to raise community awareness. Parents need to know that they could end up in court and could be fined." He said town centre businesses had agreed to work with the council on the campaign.

"If they see kids hanging about they are letting us know that there is a particular problem."

The council's education welfare team is also working with schools to target persistent truants.

Education welfare officer Gill Walker said: "Many parents condone their child's absence.

"The school attendance figures are clearly a concern and parents, schools, police and the education department will continue to work in partnership to ensure more children attend school regularly."

Stephen Harker, the council's cabinet member for education, added: "This is something we take very seriously. It is important that children are in school when they should be. We are happy to be working with the community to try to make sure that children are in class."

Parents who want advice about school attendance should call the education welfare department on (01325) 388882.