Bournemouth University has teamed up with one of the town’s largest taxi companies in a bid to alleviate noise disturbance for residents.

The SSHH Stay Silent, Head Home campaign has been launched to tackle the issue of late night noise made by students and the disturbance of taxis taking them to and from Bournemouth town centre in the evenings.

The initiative has been organised by Bournemouth University’s Students’ Union and has received the backing of United Taxis.

The company has signed a pledge vowing that their drivers will park responsibly, not beep horns after 8pm and will turn engines off while waiting for students to get in and out of cars.

Toby Horner, president of Bournemouth’s Students’ Union, said the disturbances made by taxis has been an ongoing frustration for local residents and it is hoped the campaign will go some way to solving the problem.

He said: “The best campaigns are ones that have input from all the different stakeholders in the community, and that’s what we’ve got here.

“It shows that when we do all come together we can produce some really positive results.”

Winton East Councillor Theo Stratton said: “This proves that students are helping out with the community and that quite a lot of students are willing to do their bit.”

Jan Read, of Stanfield Road Homewatch, said: “I think it’s fantastic. It’s taken a long time to get to this stage but all the letters, meetings and hard work were worthwhile. I think we’re winning.”

But Anson Westbrook, chair of the Winton Forum, said: “This is a start but there are a lot of initiatives which start with a fanfare and then fade away to nothing. We want to see this rolled out into the rest of Winton.”

Following the signing of the pledge, the Students Union carried out a community litter pick along Frederica Road moving into Stanfield Road, Sedgely Road and Firs Glen Road.