Posters target truant pupils

The council says truants can become victims of crime

Teenagers playing truant are being targeted by a poster campaign in Lancashire.

The posters will appear on bus shelters in Preston and Burnley with the message "Bunking Off - Missing Out".

A billboard campaign which used the same posters earlier this year in Lancaster and Morecambe proved a big success, says the county council.

Regular truancy sweeps will also be carried out by education welfare officers together with the police.

Truancy sweeps which were completed this May found 42 youngsters out of school in Burnley and 65 pupils playing truant in Preston.

'Criminal activities'

Mike Sutherland, Lancashire county council's education welfare officer, said: "We want people to see the posters and realise that attendance is vitally important for and affects their opportunities in the future.

"Young people can become the victims of crime if they're not in school or even become involved in criminal activities themselves.

"We want to reach young people, their parents and the community and reduce school absence where there is no good reason."

The poster campaign will be launched on Monday 22 September and will run for two weeks.

There will be 11 posters in each town sited on main roads to and from schools.