Parents are to be asked to help tackle student hooligans in a Royal Gazette newspaper advert.

The ad, placed by the National Parent Teacher Association, is scheduled to run on Hallowe'en.

And parents are to be asked to volunteer for permanent playground patrols or bus monitoring in a new Island-wide clampdown on young thugs.

Government and NPTA chiefs are hoping the ad will trigger a response from parents in time to help Police crackdown on unruly youngsters on Friday night.

But senior members of the NPTA are asking parents to volunteer for long-term patrols instead of a one-off blitz for Hallowe'en.

The NPTA's executive committee held a special meeting on Monday night to rubber-stamp a call from Education Minister Jerome Dill for parents to help look for Hallowe'en hooligans.

But spokeswoman Wendy Augustus said: "We want parents to do whatever it takes but on a long-term, permanent basis -- not just on Hallowe'en night.

"Basically, we want to encourage parents, grandparents and community groups to offer services to their schools.

"We hope some of them can be there during school periods and others might be able to help people getting on and off buses.

"We will ask mums and dads to talk to teachers. But parents are needed because we know that times are changing.'' Bermuda's beleaguered buses are already being patrolled by uniformed Police officers after a series of recent vandal attacks.

Mr. Dill told The Royal Gazette on Sunday that schools would not be asked to close early on Hallowe'en night.

He revealed parents were being asked by headteachers to volunteer for peacekeeping patrols.

And he warned trouble-making students they would face expulsion from school under the 1996 Education Act.

Mr. Dill added: "I trust the NPTA's judgment and it doesn't really matter exactly what parents are asked to do as long as they come out to help in some way.

"We have managed to work together over the course of the last couple of years and established a very good working relationship.

"And I'm perfectly prepared to allow the NPTA to plan Friday's schedule for parents whichever way they think best.

"I appreciate any help they may feel able to give on Hallowe'en night and in the future.'' The NPTA has already asked headteachers to contact parents to ask them to volunteer for patrols.

And Police said extra officers and Police Reserves would be drafted in for duty all over the Island on Friday night.