IF you fancy bunking off school watch out - because Wirral's truancy hotspots are being targeted as part of a special month-long national campaign.

Council truancy officers and Merseyside Police will patrol truancy hotspots using information supplied by members of the public, schools and parents. The sweeps begin on Monday, November 14, and will last for more than three weeks.

Merseyside Police 'Ad-vans' will be out and about throughout the campaign, advertising the 'It's Your Call' truancy hotline number. Anyone with information about suspected truants is asked to call the hotline on 0151-606 2020.

Children found to be absent from school without proper authorisation will be taken to a designated safe facility and then returned to school or their parents.

Parents found with children absent from school without proper authorisation will be handed leaflets containing guidance on school attendance, potential penalties, and the help and support available to help encourage children back into school. Representatives of Merseyside's local authorities, British Transport Police and Merseyside Police will monitor train stations in Liverpool for potential truants.

Previous sweeps have helped reduce truancy by two per cent in the last 24 months, a figure which Howard Cooper, Wirral's director of education, is keen to see rise.

He said: "We wish to reinforce the message that education is important, and that children should only be absent from school for appropriate reasons, like illness, medical appointment, or religious festivals. Keeping a child out of school for a shopping trip is an example of inappropriate absence."