Children playing truant from school could be caught by officials and taken back as part of a crackdown in Burnham- on-Sea.

Somerset County Council and Avon and Somerset police will be launching a drive to reduce truancy in the Burnham area over the next few weeks.

Education Attendance Officers will be conducting truancy sweeps, together with police, in the lead-up to the Easter holidays.

These will be carried out in the town centre and school pupils who are not in school will also be visited at their homes.

The actions are to be conducted as part of an initiative to increase school attendance.

School-aged pupils found out of school without a valid reason will be escorted into school, where appropriate, and parents will be informed of any action.

John Kirby, head of Service for Partnership at Somerset County Council, said: "Somerset County Council takes school attendance very seriously.

"Our statistics reflect figures below the national average and we continue to work in partnership with schools to improve each year."

Superintendent Damian Kearney of Somerset West district police said: "We regularly find that truants are involved in incidents of anti-social behaviour. The police will be involved in the proposed targeted actions that form part of our relentless work in making our neighbourhoods safer and stronger."

North Somerset Council says it does conduct regular truancy sweeps but it is not planning any action in the run-up to Easter.