SCHOOLS across Lancashire are to tackle truancy at the touch of a button.

The computer technology enables unlimited voice or text messages in various languages to be sent to the landlines or mobile phones of parents, staff and governors at the click of a mouse.

Education chiefs are working with makers, Essex-based Groupcall, with a view to rolling out the programme across the county after a successful trial run at Helmshore Primary School.

It can be used for anything from simultaneously informing a football team of match postponement to a forthcoming school play.

But another major benefit of the system is its use in the fight against absenteeism.

Parents of any pupil marked absent are contacted in one simple daily process which takes about 60 seconds to send a message to one parent or hundreds.

The Whitefield Centre, Leyland, helps install IT systems to schools across the county including those in Burnley, Pendle, Hyndburn, Ribble Valley, Rossendale, and Blackburn with Darwen.

And it has confirmed it is now working with schools across Lancashire to set up the technology with four already signed up.

Sarah Jones, administrator at 334-pupil Helmshore Primary School, Holden Fold - which has had the technology since last April - said she was not surprised other schools were now following suit.

"It is very useful. It easy to send out one message to lots of people straight away, whether it's the governors or the football team. It not only saves money but time."

"We decided to keep it after receiving unanimous support from our parents. If truancy became an issue we wouldn't hesitate to use it for that."

St Peter's CE Primary School, Accrington, will be running the system from next term.

Head Joan Smith said: "We have installed it as parents said that our communication was OK but asked if there was anything else we could do. It will be useful for things like informing parents about enforced school closures.

"In terms of absenteeism I ring personally and try and find out why a child hasn't come in but would use this as back up as the system informs us that the message has been received by the parent."

The government has pledged to make money available to install the text alert systems - which costs around £1 per pupil per year - nationally after statistics revealed truancy was up by 1.42per cent.

In the same week a truancy sweep in Burnley and Padiham found a record 82 youngsters were absent from school.

But Groupcall's managing director, Howard Robinson said Lancashire schools were already leading the way.

"They are ahead of the game and after the successful pilot we are confident schools across the county will be using the technology."