Last Wednesday I opened the door at 10pm. I found on the drive a group of eight or so creatures including Bob the Builder and Scooby Doo inviting me to ‘trick of treat’. As they were in their late teens or early twenties I had to assume they were students. I politely declined their invitation asking were they not a bit old for this.

Having read last Monday’s Post I realised we had got off lightly.

The rampage by University football club members during which they caused damage in one restaurant and where one of their number urinated on the bar and tables in another is unfortunately far from an isolated incident. Had it been up to me the future of those involved at Reading University would have been short and hopefully they would have forfeited their fees into the bargain.

But no such luck. The reported possibility of a month’s suspension is feeble. Although there are other elements to their ‘punishment’, these weak sanctions will do nothing to sort out a problem that has been around for years.

But Reading’s licensed trade is hardly blameless. ‘Student nights’ offering cheap beer in the pursuit of profits from the campus cash cow are now commonplace where once they were rare. Too many bars court trouble by taking the money and hoping for the best when presented by people clearly drunk. I’ve never understood why whether or not a person is wearing the right kind of footwear is more important than whether they are able to walk in a straight line or stand without assistance.

I also can’t help but think among the double vodkas there are double standards at play too. If this had been a bunch of drunken lads from Whitley, rather than a bunch of drunken students from Whiteknights the police might have done what they ought to have done and put the lot of them in the cells for a night. As long as people are prepared to call this stuff ‘student hi-jinks’ when it is just plain anti-social behaviour it is more or less condoned.

The fact is the relationship between the University of Reading and Reading itself has been uneasy for as long as I can remember. Pathetic responses to anti-social behaviour were commonplace from former regimes at the University and its Student Union. Long suffering residents around the campus struggled to get the University authorities to take seriously the problems caused each and every year by occasional rowdy households who are neighbours from hell in the terraces of Old Redlands.

It is the University that distinguishes Reading from the dull as ditchwater towns with an intellect by-pass like Basingstoke, Newbury and Swindon. But it doesn’t wash for the University to claim that it cannot be responsible for the behaviour of its student body. It simply must be. The University brings thousands of people to this town every year, the vast majority cause no problems and many stay to make a fantastic contribution, but many more are guests who will move on and owe Reading no loyalty. Those of use who live here permanently have the right to expect our guests to behave themselves while on our turf.

The University now dominates life in East Reading – there is a downside to that, whether it is parking problems, landlord issues or student behaviour. Although the University and the Student Union have made serious efforts, there is still a long way to go. Until the University backs tough talk with a few expulsions its name will continue to be blackened. People without basic respect for their neighbours don’t deserve the privilege of a good University education.