A TOTAL of 456 schoolchildren were stopped and questioned during an eight-day crackdown on truancy in the borough.

Bury's education welfare officers accompanied by police officers carried out the largest check the borough has ever seen in the first two weeks of May.

Figures released this week show that 137 primary school pupils and 319 high school pupils were on the streets during school hours. Of those youngsters stopped 215, were not accompanied by a parent or guardian and education bosses had concerns about 62 of them.

Mr Alan Cogswell, head of education welfare, said: "The other 153 had legitimate reasons to be out of school, which were checked out."

Even those 241 youngsters who were accompanied by a parent were questioned and there were concerns about 38 of them.

The sweep was focused mainly on Bury town centre but 91 children were interviewed on the Metrolink and 101 were stopped in mobile patrols of Radcliffe, Prestwich, Whitefield, Tottington and Ramsbottom.

"We had concerns about one in four of those we stopped, which was a little higher than expected," said Mr Cogswell. "In these cases we will be visiting their parents on a more regular basis."

Education chiefs will now liaise with police to see how the crackdown has affected incidents of criminal activity.

The exercise was part of a national drive involving 80 councils. It coincided with the "Truancy and Crime:Tackling it Together" conference.

Last year 3,250 pupils in Bury took some unauthorised absence, totalling 19,800 school days.