My View: Expect carnage when student bar crawls become big business

IT may be more than 20 years since I was a student and it is possible that I may be looking back at those student loan-free days through rose-tinted specs. But looking at the photographs of Carnage UK 2010, it doesn't have any resemblance to my memories of student life.

Don't get me wrong, we knew how to party. The Student Union on a Saturday night, well most nights, was a pretty raucous place to be. But the difference is we kept it within the confines of campus.

Even when we ventured out of our student bubble on to the streets for Rag Week, I don't ever remember things getting badly out of hand, and I think we even managed to raise some money for charity. I am sure there were a lot of people who would rather not have had a drunken bunch of bizarrely attired students staggering around the streets, but they put up with it.

We didn't need a private ambulance, five event managers and 55 stewards supervising as they had at this year's event in Southampton. And we didn't need an organiser beyond the Student Union to take a cut of the profits either.

Carnage UK was set up seven years ago by Varsity Leisure Group. They run fancy dress events in 45 town and cities across the UK and announced this year plans to increase that to more than 50, involving 350,000 students.

Last year, Sheffield bore the brunt and student Philip Laing, 19, ended up in court after urinating over poppies at a war memorial and despite the heavy "policing" of this week's Southampton event, another student was spotted urinating on a war memorial.

Unlike the Rag Week of my student days, Carnage UK is big business. The T-shirts cost 10 and give students taking part in what is described as the "best student event ever", free access to a variety of venues.

VLG defend their organised events saying they do not promote heavy drinking and ask venues not to discount drinks. They even have a "Be Safe" section on their website.

They claim trouble is caused by people getting drunk at home before going out and have said they will work with police to identify culprits before things get out of hand.

I am not against anyone having a good time, especially in this age of austerity, we all need to let our hair down now and again, but when it is to the detriment of others and the financial gain of a few then I have to speak out.

Even the National Union of Students has called for the organised pub crawls to be banned.

And brace yourselves. With Carnage UK "sexy pyjama" events in Leeds and Sheffield this weekend, it could be your chance to witness the class of 2010 in action.