Police to FINE Rowdy Students

Students will now be told to shut up or cough up an £80 fine in a new bid to cut down on anti-social behaviour in Southampton.

Large visible signs have been put up around the city by Hampshire Police, warning students to consider their neighbours when throwing house parties or returning from drunken nights out.

Focusing on the residential Polygon area, the crackdown on noise launches as thousands of new students are due to begin their courses. Hampshire Police have joined forces with Solent University, and plan to speak to students during Freshers’ Week.

Acting Inspector Ryan Bartlett said:

We want to make students aware of the inconvenience they cause neighbours when they have noisy parties or return home after a night out in town. We want them to get to know and respect their neighbours who are often affected by loud anti-social behaviour which is often drink-fuelled.

Many residents including young children and the elderly live and work in Southampton and need to sleep and get up early for jobs and school runs.

A disruptive sleep pattern caused by noise impacts on them all and is unacceptable.”

This will doubtless be an incredibly unpopular move amongst students, but will gain a positive response from local residents that are affected by late-night noise caused by Southampton nightlife.

‘Operation Shush’ has similar intentions to SUSU’s drive to quieten down the area. ‘Shh!’ has seen campaigners present on nights out, ensuring that our Union is taking responsibility to consider its neighbours.

At the time of writing, we are awaiting a response from Hampshire Constabulary and VP Welfare, Chloe Green, on this matter. Watch this space!