EAST Oxford residents have criticised university officials for employing police community support officers to deal with rowdy students – but who clock off at midnight.

The residents say rowdy students are blighting their lives by urinating and vomiting in the streets, singing, littering and vandalising property.

Oxford Brookes University is paying £124,000 for two Pcsos over two years to patrol its Headington campus and surrounding streets. They have fewer powers than police constables.

Elizabeth Mills, the chairwoman of Divinity Road Area Residents’ Association, said: “Brookes say it is helping the community by funding Pcsos – but they go off duty at midnight.”

“For the past 10 days, the antisocial behaviour of some Oxford Brookes students around Cowley Road between 11pm and 4am has kept residents awake for hours.”

Residents felt they were getting no respite in the working week with Wednesdays the worst night, particularly when students leave the O2 Academy, in Cowley Road It comes after Monday’s Oxford Mail reported that the city council had recorded a 70 per cent increase in out-of-hours noise complaints over the past six years – but only had one officer on call to respond at weekends.

Mrs Mills said: “The police do a valiant job but it must be an impossible task to tame 1,400 drunk students as they leave a Fuzzy Ducks night to do the hokey cokey back to halls or rented houses, leaving mayhem in their wake.

“Some think this is a ‘student area’ so anything goes.”

Mum-of-three Emma Cox, of London Road, Headington, said: “My three-year-old has been woken up numerous times at two and three o’clock in the morning. It can be quite distressing.”

East Oxford councillor Dick Wolffe called for a review and said: “This has a devastating impact on neighbours.”

But John Tanner, the city council’s executive member for a cleaner, greener Oxford, said there was no more money.

He said: “We’re looking at ways to improve and work more efficiently. I think there is a danger of over-stretching if we try to respond to every call.”

Dr Anne Gwinnett, the university’s director of corporate affairs, said: “The university has been working hard to establish a positive dialogue with residents and to respond to their concerns about issues related to student behaviour.

“From September 1, we have two Police Community Support Officers, fully funded by Brookes, working on campus and in the surrounding areas, with additional police cover being in place in the early hours of the morning, when we know residents have particular concerns.”

She said she was “surprised” at the level of complaints and added that it “does not match with the data we have”.

No incidents had been logged by Thames Valley Police, she said.

Police spokesman Rebecca Webber said: “Callers should be aware however that loud music, on a Saturday night for example, will be a fairly low priority for the police and they may not be able to attend for some time.”

What do you think? Write to Letters to the Editor, Oxford Mail, Osney Mead, Oxford, OX2 0EJ, email letters@oxfordmail.co.uk or have your say online