Party poopers

Pub and club owners in Austria are threatening legal action against students who organise large student parties.

Business owners, particularly in smaller cities such as Salzburg, have complained that the increasing number of "fests" constitute unfair competition.

Irmbert Ettlmayr from the Chamber of Economics said that the parties attracted enormous crowds of youngsters, not only students, and they were drawing custom away from local bars.

Representatives of the entertainment industry threatened to report organisers to the police if the parties continued to take place so frequently.

Austria's student unions dismissed the threats declaring the student parties to be completely legal.