FIFTEEN-year-old Tom (not his real name) regularly bunks off school.

And the Accrington high school pupil isn't just in trouble with his worried parents, his teachers and the police. Prime Minister Tony Blair is hot on his trail, too.

Mr Blair stirred up a storm of criticism last week when he revealed new Government plans to tackle truancy and dock child benefit from the parents of young tearaways.

Meanwhile, new figures were released showing that 40 per cent of street crime and 20 per cent of criminal damage is carried out by 10 to 16-year-olds who should be at school -- just as police in East Lancashire mounted a fresh wave of town-centre truancy sweeps.

Tom's father said: "I drop him off at school and as soon as I've gone he walks out again.

"He has been under the social services, but we are at the end of our tether because of his disruption. My wife is on medication."

Young Tom is just one of hundreds of youngsters who skip school in East Lancashire every day. And, as the problem persists, Blackburn with Darwen Council has been asked by the Government to take part in the latest bid to target the juvenile absentees. The area has one of the highest rates of street crime in the country.

A council spokesperson said: "Past truancy patrols in the borough have been very successful.

"The aim of the truancy sweeps is to promote social inclusion and reduce crime, as well as raise standards in education for all children."

Peter Morgan, Director for Education and Lifelong Learning, said: "All the evidence from previous truancy sweeps indicates that we are extremely effective in both reducing truancy and challenging a culture that condones absence from school."

It's precisely that culture which means that last year police discovered many truanting children were actually wandering around Blackburn's shopping centre with their parents.

And it's a culture which continues in the face of recent research by the Audit Commission which revealed that young absentees are likely to leave school with fewer qualifications than those who attend school regularly -- and are more likely to be out of work or even homeless once they have left the classroom behind.