Concern over the behaviour of pupils celebrating their last day of school has prompted police to accompany them on their end-of-term trip.

Last year the Evening Press reported on scenes of drunken revelry on the Ethel Ward playing fields, in Haxby, York, after Joseph Rowntree School pupils and others celebrated their release from school to revise for GCSE examinations.

This year, school officials have swapped the traditional half-day for a supervised trip to Flamingo Land, and if all goes well, this could be adopted as a new school tradition.

Although the trip is partly to prevent a repeat of last year's rowdy party on the playing fields, which involved alcohol and a quantity of cannabis, police say they will be acting in a community liaison role rather than as a deterrent.

Community police officer PC Alistair Kennan and schools liaison officer PC John Palmer will join in the fun at the end-of-term jaunt on Wednesday.

Inspector Howard Harding, in charge of policing in the North York area, said: "There is a degree of ensuring that there is no repeat of previous years' problems but we consider this to be a community initiative.

"This year, we wanted to make a positive point and try to give the kids an opportunity to meet police officers in a more social environment.

"The children are a significant part of this community so we thought it would be a good idea to show that we are both working on a partnership to try and educate these kids and show we are working as a team."

Hugh Porter, headmaster of Joseph Rowntree School, said around 190 Year 11 pupils would be attending the trip, which had so far been met with enthusiasm.

He said: "In the past we've had a half-day in the school but this time round we've decided to try something different to see how it works out and if it's successful we will establish it as a tradition.

"Following on from last year when there were some incidents in the village we decided to look at this year and work with the police."

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