Almost one in four children in Brighton and Hove played truant from school at least once last year, new figures revealed today.

The average number of half-days missed by the youngsters who skipped primary school lessons without permission was eight, the Department for Education said.

In secondary schools, the figure was worse, with truants missing an average of 17 half-days.

The department's latest attendance bulletin shows that, out of a total of 14,367 primary school pupils, 3,096 were absent without permission.

A total of 3,084 out of 11,854 secondary pupils in the city were recorded as playing truant.

The overall absence rate - the percentage of half-days missed out of the total lesson time - was seven per cent, up from 6.8 per cent last year.

In East Sussex, 5,907 out of 32,536 primary school children played truant and 8,126 out of 26,459 secondary school children skipped lessons.

In West Sussex, 6,029 out of 53,770 primary school children played truant and 6,714 out of 53,770 secondary school children were absent without permission.