BINMEN are set to be drafted in as truancy ''spies'' in a drive to keep children in the classroom.

Refuse collectors, along with other council employees including housing officers and social workers, will be asked to report youngsters they suspect of bunking off school.

A telephone hotline has been set up and the information will be used by truancy officers to track down youngsters who regularly stay away from class.

The first town hall employees to watch for truants will be housing officers, who will be issued with guidelines this week. Other staff, including refuse crews, are expected to follow soon.

The partnership, part of a plan to get council departments to work together to improve services in the city, is believed to be the first of its kind in the country.

Members of the public are also being asked to do their bit to report truants.

The scheme is the latest initiative to tackle the problem in Manchester, where truancy rates are among the highest in the country. Twelve of the worst 200 schools for truancy in England are in Manchester.

Crackdown

Hundreds of children have already been stopped in the city and surrounding areas and questioned by police in regular truancy sweeps.

Last year, schoolchildren and their parents were stopped and quizzed by police at Manchester Airport in a crackdown on term-time holidays.

Now local authority workers will be asked to inform the education department when they see groups of youngsters loitering in areas during the school day, but not to approach them.

And staff visiting houses are also being briefed to take action if they spot children at home during lessons.

Phil Hamerton, head of social inclusion for the education department, believes council employees will be keen to play their part in boosting attendance in the city's schools.

He said: ''As members of the city council, we have a responsibility to play our part in raising attendance. Everybody has a part to play, as would have happened in a neighbourhood 25 years ago, where communities supported themselves more than they do now.''

Ray Smith, assistant director of housing, said: ''Our housing staff spend a lot of time out on the estates. They visit people in their homes and on the way to estate visits, they may come across individual children or groups of children. Yet they don't record things they see.''

The truancy hotline number is 0808 1000 840.

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