Police in Wiltshire are cracking down on truants by herding them out of bed and driving them to school in a bid to reduce anti-social behaviour.
The scheme is the first of its kind in England and has already been hailed a success by the local police chief. School skivers are visited by police, woken up by their parents, and promptly escorted to school by the men in blue, the Salisbury Journal reported.
According to Inspector Christian Lange, "one early morning visit from the police has been enough".
"It’s not good for the parents when their neighbours see us knocking on their doors and taking their kids off to school."
Every morning, police are handed a list of children who have skipped school without a reasonable explanation and pay them a visit.
"The correct place for a child of that age to be is in school," added Lange. "They are missing out on their education, and if us waking them up and taking them to school is what is needed, then that is what we shall do."
