First came planking, swiftly followed by Batmanning and owling. Now students are 'milking' – pouring milk over themselves in public places

Last week, many students travelled to London to protest against being milked by the government. Back on campus, other students were busy milking themselves. Almost literally.

Among the creme de la creme of British youth, an udderly bizarre trend has emerged: milking. Undergraduates stand in public spaces, open a four-pint bottle of milk and pour its contents over their fully clothed bodies.

The trend started in Newcastle, where students have been filmed milking themselves in stations, shopping centres, hotels and roundabouts, and there are reports of the craze in Edinburgh, Oxford, Nottingham and Cirencester. Whey to go, students!

This is of course just the latest in a long line of pointless student crazes. The first was planking, which saw the world's youngsters lie face down in unlikely places and post the evidence on Tumblr.

Then there was Batmanning, which took planking to a whole new level. Or rather, a whole new angle: instead of lying face down, they hung upside down.

Somewhere in this mix came owling – for people more comfortable with squatting than lying. And then out of left field came the cinnamon challenge, where teenagers tried to eat a tablespoon of the spice in 60 seconds, without the help of water. It's harder than it sounds.

Still, it's probably more hygienic than milking. "The smell of sour milk is present all over our house," one "milkman" told a tabloid.