WORCESTER police have criticised a BBC1 documentary about UCW students.

The Inside Out programme, aired on Monday, claimed that students of the St John's college were making life miserable for residents living near the Henwick Road campus with constant noise after returning home from nights out, minor vandalism and criminal damage.

PC Craig Prewer, beat manager for St John's, works closely with the college and the student union to emphasise the need for a good relations between students and the community.

"It is disappointing to see how the situation has been represented by the BBC - especially when so much has been done to nip problems in the bud," he said.

Chief Insp Sharon Gibbons, who is responsible for local policing in the city, said reports of incidents involving students were substantially lower than 12 months ago.

"It may be that the content of the programme is based more on historical incidents," she said.

"Not having seen the programme live, or been given an opportunity of a preview - or had the opportunity to comment on the BBC's findings in the programme itself - we are not in a position to provide a specific view about its final content.

"What we can say is that, like any other city with a student population, there are bound to be incidents of unacceptable behaviour from time to time."

The police say that while they were approached by the BBC, it was regarding young people's behaviour and that UCW students were not mentioned otherwise they would have reacted differently to the request.

Caren Davies from the BBC told the Evening News that the programme's producer spoke to the police in June about being involved.

"We stand by the report on Inside Out. We believe we gave a fair and balanced view showing both residents and the university's arguments," she said.