Local residents in student areas want unis to pay police to shut down parties

The smart thing to do is just invite them


Local residents who live in busy student areas want unis to pay the police to shut down parties, in a bid to enforce the rule of six.

Groups in Manchester’s Fallowfield and Leeds’ Hyde Park – where, in fairness, can’t be much fun to live as a civilian during term-time – are worrying about students throwing huge parties and spreading Covid, with one saying “every year we have the most horrendous house parties.”

As students returned to uni this month, inevitably so did house parties. A Notts student was fined £10,000 for throwing a house party over the weekend.

Kattie Kincaid, chair of South East Fallowfield Residents’ Group, told The Telegraph: “You can imagine with Covid this will absolutely be the thing that will be the most risky. Police have never policed it because they always regard it as students having a bit of fun.”

Bristol Uni paid around £25,000 last academic year to fund police shutting down house parties. Not a single student was fined in the first term of “Operation Beech”.

Dr Richard Tyler, local coordinator for Leeds’ HMO lobby, told The Telegraph: “We would like to see Leeds University pay for policing in student areas.

“The students are trickling back at the moment and we will have 65,000 students coming to Leeds over the next week or so.”

A Leeds Uni spokesperson said: “We understand there are concerns about adherence to the new social gathering rules by students in Leeds. This is an issue we take extremely seriously and we are reminding everyone of the need to behave responsibly, respectfully and with consideration on campus and as residents.”

A Manchester Uni spokesperson said the uni is “working extremely closely with all relevant authorities in the city and regularly liaising with the local community and residents groups to ensure our students adhere to the latest government guidelines”.

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