Community team targets truants.

TWO children have been reported to education officials following a crackdown on school truancy in a Northumberland town.

Neighbourhood police officers teamed up with staff from the county council's education welfare service to carry out anti-truancy patrols around the Manor Walks shopping centre in Cramlington.

Twelve children were stopped and had their names taken, but only two of them should have been at school at the time. They have been reported to the education authority.

The initiative was one of a number currently taking place around the county under the banner of Operation College, where police have teamed up with partner agencies to help drive down crime. Cramlington Neighbourhood Inspector David Felton said: "We will continue working closely with the local authority and education department over the coming months.

"It was reassuring that the vast majority of youngsters stopped were away from school for valid reasons, showing truancy does not appear to be a big issue in the area.

"The message still needs to be clear, though, to both parents and pupils that there is a legal obligation to attend school and those who do not will be found and face the repercussions."