Statement from Headingley councillors re alleged heavy-handed policing at two student parties this weekend

10.00.00am GMT Tue 8th May 2007

Headingley councillors James Monaghan and Martin Hamilton have released the following statement regarding allegations of heavy-handed policing at two student parties this weekend:

Councillor James Monaghan (Lib Dem, Headingley) said "Whilst we respect the right of students to have parties, reports from this weekend suggest that these gatherings were more than merely house parties. There were an awful lot of people at both events and it seems that the organisers disregarded the impact these parties would have on their neighbours.

"That said neither Councillor Hamilton nor I condone the use of heavy-handed policing. We fully accept that the police are under intense pressure to do their jobs, but we must be careful not to give them carte blanche to use excessive force in situations such as this.

"In light of this we will be urgently meeting with the neighbourhood policing team to hear their account of evening's events."

Councillor Martin Hamilton (Lib Dem, Headingley) added, "We will also be meeting with representatives from both universities and the student unions to ascertain how this situation came about and how we can avoid similar scenes in the future."