PARENTS and their truanting children are being targeted in a new drive to get pupils back to school.

Teams of up to six of Lancashire County Council's education welfare officers are joining forces with police to visit town centres across the county to haul in children who should be in school.

The stepped-up drive follows research which shows that out-of-school children risk academic failure and being drawn into street crime.

Those caught without adults will be taken back to school -- and parents found with truanting pupils risk prison, 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 truancy 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 its worst, they can become involved with street criminals and even drug dealers.

"We'll be visiting two towns each week across Lancashire, although we can't reveal them in advance as truants may go elsewhere on those days!"

Parental court appearances can result in six-month jail sentences in cases of aggravated truancy, where the parent has previously ignored court orders.