MORE than 50 schoolchildren - 27 with their parents or an adult guardian - were found wandering the streets of Cwmbran in school hours during a two-day truancy crackdown.

The exercise was hailed as a success by council officials, who said more were planned for the coming months following the Christmas break.

A total of 51 youngsters were stopped by Torfaen county borough council's Education Welfare Team and officers from Cwmbran police and asked why they weren't in school.

Sixteen of them were returned to school under new powers of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998.

Tony Walker, Torfaen council's head of pupil access and parent support, said: "Since the new powers came in two years ago, we have tried to do this every term or half-term if possible. This one seemed to be on a par with previous exercises, although we haven't yet made a comparison. There tends to be a regular number of people we pick up and for very much the same reasons."

The wayward pupils were found in Cwmbran town centre and in the catchment areas of the local secondary schools, the two areas where the Truancy Watch scheme was centred.

Of the 51 children stopped, 27 were with their parents or an adult guardian, 14 said they had a medical appointment, 13 claimed they were sick and 14 admitted playing truant.

Councillor John Turner, the council's executive member for education, said: "Truancy Watch is about ensuring all children attend school regularly. The council is determined to improve attendance in schools. We want to work with schools and parents to improve children's attainment."

David Kitchen, headteacher of Llantarnam Comprehensive, said: "I am in favour of areas such as shopping centres, where truants may gather, being targeted in such a way, as both the young people and their parents know they may be challenged.

"My own view is that truancy in the sense of children skipping school is the main problem we focus on, but there is a more serious matter of parentally-condoned absence, which is one of the things Truancy Watch has alerted us to.

"Quite apart from those who are off without anyone knowing, there are quite a few off with their parents' consent for what I would term small reasons."