SCHOOLS in Preston and South Ribble are planning to tackle truancy by bidding for Government cash to install big-brother swipe cards in classrooms.

It follows a £16million handout made available for the computerised registration systems.

Staff at Ribbleton Hall County High School, in Preston, where truancy has been a problem, are preparing their application.

But former pupil of the school soul singer Stephen Bayliss has shunned the scheme and believes the money could be put to better use. "This system may be a waste of resources," said Stephen. "There's too much red tape and teachers have no control," he said.

As a one-time truant Stephen, 33, who regularly woos crowds at The Pines Hotel, in Clayton-le-Woods, is urging youngsters to knuckle down and get an education instead of missing lessons and wasting their school years.

"Kids shouldn't play follow my leader they need to create their own life and they shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth," he said.

In retrospect Stephen admits he can see the error of his ways -- despite his successful singing career. In the early days, he says, he used to lie about his lack of qualifications having only three grade one CSEs.

"If I didn't have the ability to sing and the determination I wouldn't have been successful. It has taken me 19 years to get this far. Kids think they are untouchable at 14. I did too."

These days the velvet-voiced soul singer of Sycamore Road, Ribbleton, is currently the supporting act in an Alexander O'Neill concert and is due to appear alongside Cliff Richard later this year and on television's Barrymore.

But at the 600-pupil Ribbleton Hall High staff are eager to install the attendance monitoring system which will monitor children's attendance.

"If our administration is that accurate with the use of these machines then we will be playing our part in monitoring children," said headteacher Steve Roe. "But the real problem lies in condoned absence.

"We are trying to persuade parents that education is important and not to let their children stay off needlessly."

Next month schools will be teaming up with police, education welfare and youth offending teams to carry out truancy sweeps in Preston. It follows a similar operation at the start of the year when 1,058 children were found out of school across the county of which 766 were accompanied by a parent.