TREVOR and Dawn Boswell thought handing control of their home to their three young daughters would be a nightmare.

But swapping places - if only for a week - has turned their North Yorkshire house into a more peaceful and tolerant abode.

The couple and their three daughters were recently featured on BBC TV's Kids On Top, narrated by celebrity presenter Lilly Savage.

Mr and Mrs Boswell, of Ploughman's Court, Copmanthorpe, York, allowed their daughters, Sarah, 16, Katie, 14, and Lucy, 12, to rule the roost for a week and boss them about, as adults and youngsters swapped roles.

The Evening Press contacted them to ask about the fallout from the "fly-on-the-wall" programme after the cameras stopped rolling.

Mr Boswell, a chocolate maker at Nestl, said they feared the worst when their children invited friends round to a party and sent their parents to bed at 8pm.

He said: "We got up to utter chaos with bottles strewn everywhere. So it gave me great pleasure at the end of the programme to wake the kids up with a hooter and make them tidy the place up.

"They also demanded more quality time with their mother and also told her she had to tone down her make-up and stop wearing mini skirts and low-cut tops. I bided my time, thinking that revenge would be sweet once the filming was over, but apart from making them tidy up after the party it didn't happen."

Mr Boswell said the shift in power had led to them sitting down and reflecting on family life.

He said: "It made us realise that listening to each other and negotiation is better than confrontation and laying down the law. When I watched the programme I realised I was once a teenager myself."

Mr Boswell's wife, Dawn, 39, who works at Asda, at Monks Cross, has now changed her work hours so she can spend more quality time with her daughters, and has even toned down her make-up and wardrobe.

Mr Boswell said: "Rules have gone out of the window and been replaced by the voice of reason.

"Andy Warhol said everyone has his or her 15 minutes of fame. Well, we've just had ours and, surprisingly, it has brought us all closer together."

Updated: 09:39 Friday, January 17, 2003