7:20pm Thursday 29th July 2010
By Emily Allen
A CAMPAIGN to stop language students drinking in an Oxford park is getting results, according to police.
Officers launched Operation Brush to patrol Headington Hill Park and put a stop to problems there and in nearby streets.
They enlisted the help of language school teachers and city council park rangers.
Residents living around the park complained to police that students, aged between 16 and 25, often gathered to drink at the bandstand and that the problems with anti-social behaviour had got worse over the past year.
The students were also thought to be responsible for leaving bottles and cans strewn around the park.
Pc Chris Miles, of the Headington neighbourhood police team, sought help from managers at city language schools, including EF International Language School, in Pullens Lane, Headington, and Embassy Oxford, in Broad Street.
He said: “We had the problem all last year, so this year we wanted to do joint patrols with the park rangers and we decided to get all the leaders from the language schools involved in the patrols.
“We have gone from having something every single day to not having any problems.
“We had lots and lots of complaints, all in the bandstand area.
“Some of the drinkers were under-age, which was why we set up the test purchasing operations around Headington and we’ve had a massive reduction in that.”
Pc Miles and his colleagues launched the operation about two weeks ago, patrolling the park’s perimeters every night for up to four nights in a row.
He said some of the teenagers had moved to South Park, but there had been a clear fall in the number of complaints.
He added: “It’s dispersing the problem.
“I think it’s because there’s a house in Headington Hill Park and we don’t have half as many complaints (in South Park).”
Ruth Chambers, the director of EF International Language School, said: “We have been working with the police and park wardens to try to address some of the problems that have arisen over the past year.
“We want to encourage students to behave in a lawful manner but we also want them to have a nice image in the city, so the residents of Oxford can enjoy their presence here, rather than feel that they’re a burden on the city.
“I know that the students can be responsible for creating noise late at night and litter, but sometimes they become victims of crime themselves when it’s dark and there aren’t many people around.”
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