Big sweeps have been made by truancy officers to pick up children who have skipped their lessons at school.

Encouragingly, they did not find huge numbers of children playing hookey in Newhaven and Seaford but the picture might be rather different in large towns and cities such as Hastings and Brighton and Hove.

But the aim was spot on. Much of the petty crime committed by youngsters is perpetrated by those who should be at school.

If they can be swept off the streets and back into the classrooms, it is good for them and good for the community as a whole.

Schools which have a known problem with truancy also need to set up their own methods of checking on errant youngsters.

Some have sophisticated systems in operation but a surprisingly large number are not devoting enough attention to this pressing problem.