Leicester hellraisers cautioned

Noisy undergraduates are causing sleepless nights for university chiefs and residents alike in Leicester.

Householders in the west end of the city - an area popular with De Montfort University students - have lodged a string of complaints to the university authorities, saying that excessive late-night noise is causing problems.

Leicester City Council's domestic noise-monitoring service has moved in to check late-night noise levels, and the university has joined forces with the council and the police to tell students to keep the noise down.

De Montfort has written to all students in private rented accommodation warning them that they could be thrown off their course, or even prosecuted, if they breach acceptable noise levels. University staff are calling on residents to tell them to report noise-abuse incidents.

The students are accused of playing football in the streets late at night, being noisy when they come home from clubs and letting off fireworks.

One resident said: "It's a nightmare some nights. They just seem to have a total disregard for residents - but it's not all of the students, just a minority."

A university spokesman said procedures could be invoked if members of the public brought complaints. He said that the university expected all students to be "sensitive to the feelings of their neighbours".