TRUANTS have been targeted in a pre-Christmas crackdown on the problem school.

Police and welfare officers carried out the hard-line crackdown in Blackburn and Darwen over the past two days.

Children found truanting either with or without their parents' knowledge were returned to school.

The latest initiative follows successful targeting of truants in Blackburn and Darwen town centres in July and a recent clampdown in Accrington, during which crime fell by 37 per cent.

Research has shown that truancy is closely linked with crime with up to 40 per cent of street robberies committed by 10 to16-year-olds.

Following the success of the summer clampdown Home Secretary and Blackburn MP Jack Straw launched a national campaign. The truancy teams can now use section 16 of Jack Straw's controversial Crime and Disorder Act to remove children from the streets. Previously police and education welfare officers have had no legal authority to return children to school.

Sergeant Graham Eccles, of Blackburn Police's partnership for community safety, said: "Tackling truancy is an important issue for all the agencies involved. Invoking section 16 has taken a considerable amount of planning by all those involved. However the tremendous success of the last two operations shows that we can make a difference.

"We hope this sends a clear message to children and parents that truancy is not acceptable in the Blackburn area. But more than that, as the Christmas holidays draw nearer we ask the question if parents are unaware of what their children are doing during the school term, then how can they be confident they will avoid trouble during the holiday period?"