FOREIGN language students are holding night-time drinking sessions in Oxford parks, causing misery for neighbours and hours of clean-up work for council staff.

More than 100 under-age drinkers, who come to the city to learn English over the summer months, are attending the parties which last into the early hours of the morning.

Revellers leave the parks strewn with so much broken glass and litter it is taking Oxford City Council staff up to two hours to clear up.

The latest venue is South Park where police and park rangers have broken up gatherings of about 150 youngsters.

Retired company director Philip Howard, 70, who lives in Granville Court close to the park, said: “We see these kids coming in with bags of booze. We picked up 24 empty bottles of vodka one morning.

“These kids are out of control and something serious is going to happen.”

The police and council park rangers have launched joint patrols of the area, during the evening and into the early hours, in an attempt to crack down on the binge drinking and bad behaviour.

Police have also quizzed students about where they are buying the alcohol and have warned youngsters they may become a target for muggers.

Officers said that work to tackle the problems in Headington Hill Park, named Operation Brush, had been a success, but admitted the parties in South Park were on a much larger scale.

Chris Bell, the council’s park ranger supervisor, said: “At about midnight last Thursday we found around 100 to 150 students congregating in the park, drinking alcohol, and many of them were under-age.

“The vast majority of the students coming to the park for these parties are from the foreign language schools, and although we have been liaising with the schools and colleges about these problems, things have not improved.

“In addition to the issues of late-night noise and under-age drinking, these parties result in large quantities of litter being left strewn over the park every night.”

Sgt Rob Axe said the police had targeted South Park following a string of complaints from residents.

He said:“The names of students have been taken and information gathered on where the alcohol was purchased and this matter will be investigated further by Thames Valley Police.

“Their actions are also in direct contradiction to the guidelines agreed by Thames Valley Police and the language schools, guidelines that were put in place to ensure their safety.

“We will continue to patrol the park and surrounding areas until these students get the message that this is unacceptable behaviour Ruth Chambers, director of EF International Language School, said all its students were briefed on drinking laws and acceptable behaviour.

She said the school worked closely with both the police and the council, adding: “Our responsibility is to make sure students have correct information and they understand the ‘do’s and dont’s’ in terms of the law and what is considered appropriate.

“We expect them to use that information in the right way.

“We have a responsibility to deal with specific problems and we address those individuals if we are aware of them.”