Students go home!
POLICE COMMISSIONER’S PLEA AS RESIDENTS FEAR MANY ARE BACK TO PARTY
OUTRAGED residents in an area blighted by student house parties are concerned more are arriving in the city.
Police and Crime Commissioner Paddy Tipping has called for returning students to “go home”.
Several house parties were broken up by police in Lenton last weekend. Nottingham’s universities have refused to publish the number of students disciplined or suspended for organising and attending illegal parties.
Anyone who attends an illegal party or gathering of more than 15 people can now be fined £800 £10,000 fines remain for gatherings of over 30 and £200 fines for those mixing with households.
Students have been told not to return to university until at least mid-february.
Kate Loewenthal, chairwoman of the Lenton Drives and Neighbours Residents’ Association, said residents would like the universities to do more.
“There are certain courses where students are allowed back but there is no way all the students that have come back are on these courses. There are so many students back – everyone has noticed. I think the majority have come back because they would rather be here than at home under parents’ watchful eye.
“There is no excuse for this behaviour. The universities should be taking more action.”
Virginia Rochester, secretary of the residents’ association in Lenton, said: “The exam period has just finished so why are they moving back to Nottingham? You don’t want to think the worst of people but there were house parties at the weekend.
“This is not good if they are moving back to celebrate. People are also moving back from various places of the country and could bring this new variant with them.”
She believes there needs to be more university security rather than just relying on the police.
“I don’t think they have many answers. I am sick of hearing it is ‘a minority of students’ because it still affects the community around them.”
Mr Tipping said only one person, a student, had paid the £10,000 fine in Nottinghamshire and only half of people had paid the other fines.
He said: “I think it might be the case that students are coming back – but they are not invited back. They are invited to stay at home.
“All the intensive care beds are full or overfull and all these young people have grandads and grandmas and they are putting them at risk. This is a life and death situation for some people.”
Mr Tipping also argued that people organising these parties were putting police officers lives at risk.”
In a joint statement, the Unversity of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University said: “Currently only a small proportion of our students are receiving in-person teaching in line with Government guidelines.
“The overwhelming majority of students from both universities continue to follow the rules if they have returned to campus.
“Many are playing an active role in supporting their communities.
“Whenever we have evidence of a breach of the guidelines, we support robust action by Nottinghamshire Police, and will take immediate action under our respective internal disciplinary processes, where fines, suspension and exclusion are potential outcomes.”