ENSURING youngsters spend the money their parents give them on school dinners is no new problem.

Parents have worried for a long time about whether their cash is being frittered away at a corner shop on things that will do children no good at all - and perhaps not even being spent on food at all.

There is also the fear that perhaps school bullies are relieving a boy or girl of the cash and the youngster is too frightened to let on.

And while one group of parents is fretting about whether school dinner money ever reaches its intended destination another group is apprehensive at the thought that children are being teased or bullied because they are using their means-tested right to claim free meals.

Children can be far more cruel than adults at labelling each other and the worry of being stigmatised and put under a spotlight because your family qualifies for free school dinners is a real one.

The solution being pioneered by Lancashire County Council to combat both of these thorny problems seems such a simple one it seems surprising it has not been thought of before.

A total of 12 schools have swapped daily dinner money for a 'credit card' topped up by parents who sent in a cheque each week.

At the school the swipe cards are topped up and at the same time those claiming free lunches have an identical card which is also credited by £1.50 a day.

The result is that whether they are used in traditional canteens or the 'Express Cafe' branding being rolled out across the county youngsters will be able to eat side by side without their fellow pupils knowing whether they are on free meals or not.

At the same time they won't have cash to spend elsewhere or have money taken from them by junior racketeers and school meals staff have seen queuing time reduced because they don't have to handle money. New technology and old fashioned commonsense.