10,800 pupils play truant every day in London

ALMOST 11,000 children skip school in London every day as truancy soars to record levels, figures showed today.

The proportion of pupils missing class across England rose for the fifth year in succession last year, despite ministers spending more than £1billion on anti-truancy measures.

While absence rates were highest among GCSE students, MPs expressed alarm that growing numbers of primary school children were missing lessons.

The figures come amid mounting concern over teenage violence and crime in London, and the rising role of gang culture. Under a government crackdown, thousands of parents have been prosecuted for their truanting children.

But today's Department for Children's figures showed the highest truancy rates on record for pupils in England's state schools, with an estimated 63,000 skipping class on a typical day last year - of which 10,800 were absent in London.