Harlene Hayne

The University of Otago is warning high school pupils away from parties in North Dunedin, saying their presence is ruining the university experience for students.

Vice-chancellor Harlene Hayne told a university council meeting on Tuesday she thought Orientation Week, held at the end of February, went well this year.

However, students were still concerned about an ''overabundance'' of underage teenagers in the university district.

Prof Hayne wanted to spread the word high-schoolers were not welcome.

''That's been the only difficult thing to deal with,'' she said.

Students often reported uninvited guests at their parties, particularly in Hyde and Castle Sts, and they tended to ''sully a bit of the fun''.

''This is a problem that is not of [university students'] making,'' Prof Hayne said.

Otago University Students' Association president Caitlin Barlow-Groome said she was concerned both about underage drinking and high school pupils getting into fights.

''It's definitely not their place to be there. It's a university party for a reason,'' she said.

However other non-students also sometimes came into the student area and caused problems, particularly during O Week, she said.

''We do seem to luck out and get the blame for a lot of things,'' Ms Barlow-Groome said.

Principals of several Dunedin high schools either declined to comment on Prof Hayne's remarks or could not be reached for comment yesterday afternoon.

Campus policeman Senior Constable John Woodhouse said in the past he had driven high school pupils back to their hostels after they had been found in the student area.

Hyde St was the most popular spot.

He had even known parents to drop off their children in the student area with alcohol.

''It's not creating a safe environment for them, to be honest.''

However from his perspective it was older non-students who caused far more issues in the student district, fighting and carrying out opportunistic burglaries.

Snr Const Woodhouse agreed O Week had been much quieter than in other years, but said he had arrested one non-student for disorderly behaviour.

There had been several reports of assaults but the perpetrators in those alleged violence cases had not yet been found.

Snr Const Woodhouse said there was a ''criminal element'' that came into North Dunedin, but it was a difficult issue to police because student flats were private residences.

''You can't dictate who comes and goes.''

Once the university expanded its external security cameras into residential areas, Snr Const Woodhouse expected the problems to reduce ''significantly''.

Twenty-six cameras are due to be installed in the coming months, following consultation with students last year.

Hyde and Castle Sts would be among the first streets to get them.