THE students who live in the Winton area are gradually taking over this once sought-after place to live.

The Bournemouth University and local language schools encourage more and more students to their courses, seemingly showing very little interest in how or where they live or what they get up to.

High street estate agents vie with each other, all ultra keen to place these students in local HMOs (homes of multi occupancy).

So we, the residents of Winton, are left to like it or lump it and pick up the pieces.

Meanwhile, the value of our properties are being driven down as the area slowly sinks under this avalanche of wall-to-wall, door-to-door students.

Well, enough is enough, perhaps we the residents should band together and demand the local council reduce our community charges.

After all, I pay my community charge for my family house consisting of four or five inhabitants – these HMOs have in some cases eight, nine, 10 or more living there at any one time, still paying just the one community charge.

The council have allowed the amount of HMOs to increase unabated for years, and only very recently have they called a halt to this practice, which in my view is far too little, far, far too late.

P J LITTLEFIELD Victoria Avenue, Winton, Bournemouth