THESE are exciting times for University College Worcester.

With the prospect of full university status just around the corner, the college has outlined bold plans for a new centre in the middle of the city.

The college has also been rightly acclaimed in recent years for the quality of its teaching.

So far, so good.

However, UCW has another issue to tackle with a minority of its students - how they behave in our community.

College heads are due to meet fire service bosses following an incident at the college last month which left crews feeling intimidated by rowdy students.

Worcester station commander John Das-Gupta described their behaviour as "drunken and loutish".

According to fire service statistics, there were between 50 and 60 false calls to the college in 2003.

This sort of behaviour is, of course, wholly unacceptable.

We appreciate that being away from home for the first time can have an intoxicating effect on young minds and some become carried away.

How can these students be made to understand that their actions have a knock-on effect for the rest of our community?

What's clear is that all students have to respect the area in which they live.

They have an obligation to be good neighbours - and, we are sure, the majority of students are just that.

However, there would appear to be a mindless minority who are determined not to grow up.

It is about time college leaders showed these students the door.