IF the national media are to be believed, the country is suffering from an epidemic of bullying, perpetuated by mobile phones and internet chat rooms.

Incidents of so-called happy slapping - an assault on a person captured on a camera phone - have become commonplace, with the latest one targeting an 81-year-old woman.

The problem has become so rife as to attract the biggest bully of them all, Pop Idol's Simon Cowell, to campaign against it.

A sure sign then that this is all a lot of media hype?

Unfortunately not.

Experts in St Albans who have been working closely with schools to beat the bullies confirm that the pandemic is real and rapidly growing in local schools.

A recent national poll of 11 to 19-year-olds, commissioned by NCH and Tesco Mobile, asked 770 young people whether they had been bullied or threatened through emails, internet chatrooms or texts.

One in five said they had, with 14 per cent experiencing bullying by text message, five per cent in internet chatrooms and four per cent via email.

Not surprisingly, local headteachers have been reluctant to talk about the extent of the affliction in their schools.

In one recent case revealed to the St Albans Observer where a girl was threatened over MSN Messenger, the parents and victim refused to release their names, following warnings from the school which did not want its name associated with the incident.

But Hertfordshire police, who have recently appointed a youth crime reduction officer for St Albans, reported an increase in incidents of assault over the past two or three months, particularly in the form of happy slapping.

Several teenagers have been arrested for assault or criminal damage mostly 13 to 16 year-olds.

Combating this in schools has become PC Paul Allen's number one priority.

He said: "It is a big issue at the moment and the main thing I have to deal with in schools.

"These things are causing alarm, distress and anxiety and they are arrestable offences. But a lot of young people do not realise how serious it is.

"I intervene at an early stage to educate pupils about the law and criminal consequences with the aim of reducing the number of crimes and the number of victims."

According to PC Allen, both genders have been swept up by this apparent trend, with boys more likely to get involved in physical violence and girls prone to malicious text messages.

The youth crime prevention officer talks to senior teachers and speaks in assemblies to educate pupils them about the law.

Police in other parts of the county are taking more draconian action, confiscating phones from children thought to be involved an approach which St Albans police are now keen to adopt.

If anyone is caught filming on mobile phones, police officers have the powers to take the phone away for analysis.

Hertfordshire County Council's PHSE and citizenship adviser, Amber Carroll, has similarly been working with schools to combat cyber bullying and agrees there is a growing trend in local schools which reflects the national picture.

She said: "We cannot quantify how big a problem it is but it certainly exists in St Albans. It is happening nationally and we know it is happening locally.

"There is no question it is an issue that young people, parents and schools must be alerted to and must stamp out.

"It is emerging rapidly as a desperately nasty form of bullying."

A growing area of training provided by the county as part of its anti-bullying initiative focuses on how to deal with this form of intimidation.

The message from the county's advisers is to report abusive texts to the police do not reply to them.

Most mobile phone service providers like Orange or Vodaphone will also be able to help trace an abusive call.

Children should be careful who they give their numbers to, avoid leaving phones lying around and change their phone if abusive calls persist.

Banning mobiles entirely in schools is generally seen as a move that could jeopardise children's safety. But Ms Carroll believes that specifically banning camera phones could be one solution.

She said: "I would advise schools to have a debate on having camera phones.

"We must make a distinction between camera phones and ordinary ones."

The NCH survey revealed one in 10 young people had been photographed by a mobile phone camera in a way which made them feel uncomfortable, embarrassed or threatened.

Parents, teachers and victims of bullying can get advice and information from Hertfordshire County Council's anti-bullying website www.habi.org.uk or from www.stoptextbully.com.