BURY Council's battle against truancy will be in the national spotlight for the next six weeks as part of a major new BBC documentary, which started on Thrusday night.

Through the eyes of the children and Bury Council's education welfare officers, Truants (BBC1, 8pm) focuses on the youngsters who skip school across the borough and the challenging daily work of those charged with keeping the youngsters in class.

Kerry Long, a Bury Council's education welfare officer team leader, said: "We are really hoping the documentary reflects the work we do. We don't just knock on parents' doors and tell them we are taking them to court - that is a last resort.

"In many cases there are problems within the family which prevents the child from attending school and we try to help."

BBC Birmingham appro- ached numerous authorities throughout the country asking councils to take part. Both Bury and Bolton councils agreed to allow camera crews to spend more than six months following the education welfare officers on truancy sweeps and school visits.

Councillor Maggie Gibb, Bury Council's executive member for lifelong learning, said: "Bury does not have a major problem. We have some of the best attendance figures in the country.

"However, of course we have a number of students who truant and we were more than happy to co-operate on this series so that people can get a real insight into the work that is going on to address the problem."

The last truancy sweep in March stopped 220 children in the streets and 106 of them were truanting.

The next round of sweeps, patrolling shopping centres and known truancy hotspots - including the Metrolink - will start on Monday and ends on December 3. The aim of the patrols, where the children will be returned to school or taken to a place of safety, is to increase the levels of attendence and raise childrens' achievements in school.

The six-part series will feature 16-year-old Toni Crossley, a former pupil at Prestwich High School, in the final three episodes.

Toni was referred to education welfare officer Vicky Hadfield after she missed more than three years of school due to ill health.

Mum Julie Crossley said: "I felt like I was not getting anywhere. I would take Toni to school, hand her over to a teacher, but she would later walk back out again.

"She missed three years with continuous hospital appointments and found it difficult to make friends.

"Then Vicky came on the scene and acted as a mediator between me and the school."

Toni was soon undergoing six hours of home tuition a week and gradually re-intergrated herself back into school part-time in preparation for her GCSEs.

But it is not just the children the officers have to communicate with as the programme follows Vicky's attempts to build a relationship of trust between her and Julie.

Vicky explained: "It was a hard process as Julie is a self-confessed proud person. It took a while to establish a relationship where Julie trusted us enough for us to say this is what is going to happen'.

"They are a very close family and it was a huge step for them to let us in."

Joan Wilson, an education welfare officer team leader, added: "We know of adults who have not had a good experience at school themselves so when it comes to their own child having difficulties, they do not know how to approach the school.

"We are not only breaking down barriers with the children but with the adults too."