TRUANTS and their parents beware!

Lancashire County Council welfare officers will soon be patrolling the streets of nearly every town in the county to catch any skiving youngsters in the act.

Preston will be getting a visit from the eagle-eyed officers and a Leyland sweep could be in the pipeline.

Parents caught with truanting children could face a severe penalty -- including a jail sentence.

The drive to get youngsters back to school comes after evidence found that out-of-school children risk academic failure and being drawn into street crime.

In the school year 2001 to 2002, 158 parents across Lancashire were prosecuted, including 36 Preston parents, and eight in Chorley -- including parts of South Ribble -- for 'failure to secure regular education at school of a registered pupil'.

The scheme has been praised by a teacher at a Preston school where pupils receive prizes for not skipping school.

Anne Robinson, deputy head at Ashton-on-Ribble High, praised the work of the welfare officers. She said: "We regard our education welfare officer as part of our school staff.

"We have a very, very strict attendance policy. At the end of term we have a lottery for children who never missed a day that term. We've always got a number of people who have never missed a day.

"There are children out there who don't go to school. That's just the reality of the situation."

The teams of six education welfare officers will return truanting pupils to school, and parents found with truants risk a six-month prison sentence, large fines and social services involvement.

County councillor Ruth Henig, cabinet member for cross-cutting issues, said: "These parents need to understand how important it is for their children to attend school. Some absence is legitimate, but earlier sweeps have revealed that up to two-thirds of truancy is condoned by parents.

"We sometimes find truants with their parents, but parents should know they face large fines. At the very least, the children risk falling behind in their education. At worst they can become involved with criminals and drug dealers."