A Leeds NHS worker has opened up about how she was called a "b****" and faced abuse from students after asking them to turn their house party music down during a late night clash.
Another woman, a mother of a toddler suffering with autism spoke of how noisy student parties have kept her poor three-year-old son up until 3am. These are just a couple of the horror stories Hyde Park residents have had to deal with over the past month.
The University of Leeds and Leeds Beckett University launched a partnership team to crack down on anti-social behaviour. They've insisted the vast majority of students "act responsibly" but admit that no resident should have to deal with their cohorts' bad behaviour.
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Jo, who didn't want her last name published in fear of being identified by her loud "intimidating" next door neighbours , works around the clock as a mental health practitioner. The mother-of-two, 16 and 14, has lived in Hyde Park for 20 years but just this month was told to move away by the drunk bleary eyed students next door.
Speaking about the agonising incident which saw her verbally attacked, she said: “I’ve been woken up at midnight and 2am already because people are having parties.
“It makes me feel uncomfortable. Sometimes it’s been quite intimidating, I’ve had students being really rude in response to me asking people to be quiet. They’ve told me I shouldn’t live there because it’s a ‘student area’. I’ve been sworn at, I’ve been called a b**** and all sorts of things.
“It makes me feel really angry. This is where I live and I’ve got children. It’s disgusting.”
Jo added: "There’s no parking, I can’t park in front of my house, more students have cars now and there’s these multiple households.
“My children can identify the drug smells and paraphernalia on the floor.”
'A nuisance'
Fellow resident Sadia Haeema, 34, who lives in between two student houses opened up about how "difficult" the loud house parties are for her autistic son Ismaeel. She's described how this will often cause the three-year-old to go 24 hours without sleep as his disorder makes him a light sleeper.
Sadia said: “They get loud and cause a nuisance at night. My son’s autistic so when there’s parties, their have been times where I’ve had to explain to them at 3am that he struggles to sleep at night.
“You can hear the conversations and you can hear the music loud and clear. It was almost like in ever room there was different music playing.
“People with autism are light sleepers. It’s hard to get him to sleep at night and if he gets woken by loud noises, it’s hard for him to fall back to sleep. You’re looking at another 24 hours without sleep again. It’s quite difficult.”
Universities' response
Leeds Beckett University and University of Leeds are part of a partnership with the city’s other higher education institutions, the Leeds City Council Antisocial Behaviour Team and West Yorkshire Police, to address instances of anti-social behaviour including noise nuisance.
An additional, unique service tackling anti-social behaviour and noise in inner north-west Leeds launched in February 2022, funded by the two major universities. A national first, the service includes overnight patrols, run seven days a week by Leeds City Council response officers.
A spokesperson on behalf of the universities’ anti-social behaviour partnership said: “We expect our students to act responsibly, and the vast majority do so, bringing many positive benefits to their communities. But, of course, no residents should have to suffer from anti-social behaviour. When we receive complaints, we investigate and take action against any students that are involved.
“Through the partnership, we provide two full-time noise nuisance response officers dedicated to the north-west Leeds area, from 5pm to 4am, seven days a week, and the evidence suggests this is having an impact, with complaints down by over 25% compared with last year.
“At the same time, response officers are now attending complaints, on average, within half an hour – twice as quickly as last year. In addition, proactive patrols have stopped dozens of potential noise nuisance before they get going.
“While the impact of the new service is encouraging, universities work closely with students to support them to adapt to life and play a positive role in diverse residential communities.”
Residents experiencing noise or antisocial behaviour in this area can contact the team on the following numbers:
- 5pm to 4am, every day – 0113 3760337
- 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday – or if you do not require an immediate response – 0113 2224402.
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