Teams of police and education welfare officers will patrol the streets, challenging young people to provide a good reason for being out of school.

Truants will either be returned to school immediately, or taken to an agreed place of safety.

It is the seventh national truancy sweep since December 2002. A hard core of 2% of pupils still miss five weeks or more of school every year.

Education threatened

The government said that, in the six sweeps held so far, more than 31,000 youngsters were stopped - nearly half of whom were accompanied by a parent.

In the East Midlands, sweep teams apprehended 2,080 truants.

Figures published by the Department for Education and Skills showed pupil absence fell across state schools by 7% last term (autumn 2004).

Launching the new sweep, Schools Minister Derek Twigg said: "The majority of parents are supporting schools in ensuring that their child attends regularly.

"However, a stubborn hard core of 2% of pupils remain determined to jeopardise their education and their futures through persistent truancy."

He added that the government would not hesitate to support sanctions such as prosecution and penalty fines for parents unwilling to get their children into school.