LORD Falconer was in York today to see the city's pioneering Truancy Watch scheme. He will be impressed with the results: youth crime in school hours has fallen by two thirds since it began.

The scheme also means that vulnerable youngsters are not wandering the streets.

But what can be done with the hard core truants, those who skip school day after day?

Here's a thought. Lord Falconer is the minister in charge of the Millennium Dome, currently vacant. Why not kill two birds with one stone and ship the persistent truants off there? A few hours under the Greenwich big top, and the thought of school will seem positively alluring.

Updated: 11:32 Tuesday, February 27, 2001