ANTI-SOCIAL behaviour by students in Stanmore will not be tackled unless residents log their problems with police, a meeting between locals and Student Union officials heard.

Petitioners calling on civic chiefs to limit houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) claim the estate is at "breaking point" as tensions rise over late-night parties, anti-social behaviour and landlords converting family homes into student digs.

One leading campaigner called on Winchester University to kick out persistent troublemakers.

Student Union president Naomi Carter held the largely positive meeting on Tuesday for locals to discuss steps being taken to tackle the disruption.

One resident, who asked not to be named, told Tuesday's meeting how students verbally abuse locals, vomit on cars and have sex on her street near Stanmore into the early hours of the morning.

"It's not funny," she said. "They're coming out of here drunk along Erskine Road, laughing, joking, screaming, having sex occasionally - always a joy to see.

"We laughed at it - we probably shouldn't have. If my children had seen, it might have been a bit different."

This month the union launched van patrols around Stanmore on popular club nights as part of a series of measures to clamp down on noisy students.

Ms Carter said the union is "very proud" to host community and charity events as well as late entertainment and has won awards for its safety procedures.

Union officials and city councillors urged residents to report problems to police as the council, university and local force cannot tackle anti-social behaviour without hard figures.

Between September and November police received just two 101 calls relating to student anti-social behaviour in Stanmore. Residents and officials agree this does not reflect the reality.

Union manager Andrew Hodgson said bosses could only control problems related to their own events, and many issues come from students walking to clubs and bars in the city centre late at night.

After the meeting, campaign leader Amanda Chard said the discussion was "really positive" but more residents needed to engage with authorities and the university should offer "much more severe" punishments to anti-social students.

"They should be thrown off their course, she said. “I don't think that's unreasonable. They [the Student Union] are doing their best."

Her petition demands city councillors bring forward a proposed rule forcing landlords to get planning permission before converting houses into HMOs which are popular with Winchester University students.

The clampdown is planned for 2016, but Ms Chard said the delay would cause a "gold rush" of investors buying houses to convert into HMOs before the rules come in.

The petition, which has more than 300 signatures, will be presented to Winchester City Council at its full meeting on January 7.

A Winchester University spokesman said: "The university encourages residents of Stanmore to report anti-social behaviour [to police] as close to the time of the incident as possible with information that will enable the issue to be investigated.

“This is so that a report can be allocated to the most appropriate agency. Winchester City Council shares these call reports with the university, where appropriate, and works with the university and the police to respond as required."