RESIDENTS’ lives are being ruined by students being noisy, littering and urinating in the street.

People living in Hawkhurst Road in Coldean, Brighton, said they are suffering sleepless nights due to students gathering at a nearby bus stop late.

Jasmin Cady, who lives in the road with her partner and two daughters, said: “Student noise at night has left my daughter unable to stay awake at school and has caused my partner’s Crohn’s disease to flare up for the first time in two-and-a-half years.

“I only moved into this house last Christmas so this is my first time experiencing this, but my neighbour says it’s like this every year. It’s affecting my six-year-old daughter at school, I had to tell her teacher that she might fall asleep in class because she keeps getting woken up.”

Jasmin revealed the noise is worst between Thursday and Sunday nights but could be heard on all nights of the week, and had had an impact on her whole family.

She said: “My partner has to go to work after two hours of sleep as he is the only one working because I’m looking after our ten-month-old, so if we lose that then we haven’t got money coming in. He suffers from Crohn’s disease which causes him severe stomach aches which are made worse and more frequent by stress.

“Before we moved here he hadn’t had a flare up in two-and-a-half years but in the last four weeks he has had loads.”

Jasmin said the issues had started with the arrival of new students in September.

She said: “We have student halls just down the road from us, and every night since Freshers’ week we have had students at the bus stop shouting and swearing.

“There’s also an alleyway which the students use as a toilet, and my partner recently caught one urinating in a bush on my neighbour’s drive.”

Jasmin said that student services had provided security for the area, but had not been able to solve the problem because they had no authority outside of the university grounds.

A University of Brighton spokesman said: “The university is committed to working with residents on issues affecting the local community and regularly attends Local Action Teams and other community forums. We work with our Students’ Union and Student Residential Advisors throughout the academic year to provide guidance for our students and to ensure they are aware of our expectations of their behaviour.

“We would welcome the introduction of a bus stop on our Varley Halls accommodation site and for Brighton and Hove Buses to be rerouted to serve this area.”

Tracey Hill, Labour and Co-operative councillor for Hollingdean and Stanmer, added: “Residents have had issues with noise and antisocial behaviour at bus stops for a while. To respond to this, the university, students union, police, residents’ association and the council’s community safety team have been working together, and I’ve been involved in this as well.

“In addition to giving clear information to students about acceptable behaviour and patrols of the area, they’ve been looking at the possibility of installing CCTV and roadworks that would be need to have a separate bus stop at Varley Park itself. In the meantime I advise all residents to report any antisocial behaviour to the police and the university.”

A police spokesman said: “Sussex Police have seen an increase in reports from residents in Coldean following antisocial behaviour, believed to be from students, travelling to and from the town centre by bus at night. Sussex Police are working in partnership with Brighton University, Brighton and Hove Buses and engaging with the local community to robustly tackle this problem, reduce the community impact and support those who have been affected by this matter. Anyone who is affected by antisocial behaviour should report it to Sussex Police online or by calling 101.”