THE high pitched vocals of Alvin and the Chipmunks have been pumped out by police in the middle of the night to deter rough sleepers.

The novelty cartoon band has spawned a series of catchy hits popular with children as well as feature films and a successful television series.

But in the early hours of Tuesday morning, they could also be heard at Bournemouth’s Travel Interchange.

This comes after Dorset Police decided to vary its tactic, which is being run in partnership with the council, of playing traditional Highland bagpipe music near the train station.

The authorities decided on this approach following reports of commuters feeling intimidated by the increasing number of homeless people drinking there and using it as a place to sleep.

However Aron Kennedy, who was waiting for a coach in the early hours of Tuesday morning, was not impressed.

The 29-year-old described the experience of listening to Alvin and the Chipmunks for hours on end as “like an SAS selection test”.

Mr Kennedy said if he was being held 'captive' he would have “surrendered after one minute”.

“All you could hear was Alvin and the Chipmunks and Christmas songs, including All I Want for Christmas Is You,” the Londoner said. “I'm laughing about it now but at the time I wasn't so happy.”

A Bournemouth council spokesman confirmed that music by Alvin and the Chipmunks, who were first created by Ross Bagdasarian in 1958, had been put on at the Interchange.

“Yes, that music was being played,” the spokesman said. “The principle at the station remains the same irrespective of the type of music being played.”

The spokesman said, however, that it was Dorset Police that had changed the tunes and not the council, adding that the bagpipe music would be returning.

A Dorset Police spokesman said the tracks were “chosen randomly” and that there “is not a set playlist”, when asked for one by the Echo.

Almost 4,000 people have signed a petition urging the authorities to stop playing bagpipe music at the Interchange, which campaigner Carla Johnson said “goes against the morals of the majority of Bournemouth's residents”.