THESE are the scenes residents are confronted with when they open their front doors.

Broken beds propped up on the side of houses, traffic cones discarded in front gardens and rubbish overflowing onto the streets is an everyday occurrence at the Polygon.

For 15 years homeowners have been forced to live with the trail of destruction left by students migrating for the summer, landlords dodging disposal fees and out-of-town fly-tippers but enough was enough.

Residents Action spokesman, Lorraine Barter, has taken matters into her own hands by taking pictures of disgusting sightings around her Harbour Road home in a bid to stop garbage wrecking her neighbourhood.

The 68-year-old battled the stench of rancid half-eaten takeaways and stepped over dead rodents to capture what has happened to her beloved area on a digital camera.

She said: "These pictures are completely indisputable.

"The invasion of HMOs (Houses of Multiple Occupancy) has been disastrous. We are living in an HMO ghetto.

"I've asked the universities to put these pictures up on notice boards to show students how not to live.

"It is driving tax-paying residents away. In my street 49 of the 54 houses are HMOs. There are only five of us standing alone against the invasion."

Southampton City Council has now launched its own crackdown on messy university students' end of year dumpings.

Students and their landlords have been warned they could face a £75 fine if they don't clean up properties before leaving the city for the summer break.

Thousands of flyers have also been distributed as council rubbish inspectors and street wardens begin door-knocking offenders in the next two weeks.

Council waste development officer Gale Williams said trouble hot spots in the Polygon, Newtown, Portswood and Highfield areas would be targeted in the six-week clean-up blitz.

"Dishing out fines is not something we want to do, we want to work with students to manage their waste.

"Ultimately if it's not being managed then we will issue a fixed penalty."

Waste chiefs also want to end reliance and abuse of a free waste "clear-up" and will now charge £25 for collection of ten bulk items.

Last July the council collected 45 tonnes of waste in a bulk waste clear-up of houses in Portswood and the Polygon, costing the taxpayer more than £6,000.

But Southampton council head of waste, Andrew Taylor, explained the students could not be held solely to blame.

He said: "Students tend not to drag their furniture outside to abandon it. We have in the last couple of years noticed an increase in the volume of stuff being dumped.

"There is evidence of landlords bringing in stuff from the New Forest and Eastleigh where they don't have a free collection. More and more waste is presented.

"The situation has become unbearable. What once was a workable solution is something we can no longer tolerate."

Other councils have been contacted to find the right answer to rid the streets of waste.

The solution in Leeds has been for the council to employ two full-time members of staff to bring together universities, landlords, police and other relevant bodies.

Mr Taylor added: "That is what we are trying to do here. This is the first time this has been attempted in the city. We are not expecting to cure it overnight but we are expecting an improvement next year."

Residents lament what has happened to their neighbourhoods.

Pat Othen, 58, was born in Milton Road and long aspired to live in Kenilworth Road since she was a child.

She said: "I used to play with a girl here and longed to live in this street with its steps leading up to nice houses.

"The stained glass windows were wonderful and there were big trees as far as the eye could see. This was the posh area and I always dreamed of living here and for ten years it was lovely."

Gradually houses were bought up by letting agents and landlords to convert them into student homes.

She said: "My dream became a nightmare and now it is overrun. Seeing all the litter spilling out of the bins and the rubbish in people's front gardens, it breaks my heart."

Noise had been the first big problem with music blaring out from the adjoining house and screams at all hours of the night.

Eventually Mrs Othen was driven to the end of her tether and confronted the students only to end up with a criminal record for breaking a man's car aerial.

She said: "It drove me out of my mind, I needed tranquillisers to sleep. I aim to be out of this place before I am 60."

Southampton County Council's team leader for public health, Ralph Walling, claimed the city had no more noise complaints than anywhere else in the country.

He explained most students were reasonable and did turn the volume down once told.

He said: "There are one or two houses where we have had to serve abatement notices but most of the time noise will really annoy residents for one night during a party and it won't be a problem again."

Southampton Solent University bears the greatest brunt of residents criticism but it assured the Echo that it worked with the council and others to raise awareness among students of their community responsibilities.

A regular student newsletter covers aspects of living in the community and a police officer addressing teens during Freshers' Week on community responsibility.

A university spokesman said: "Most of our students settle into university life well.

"However, if the university receives any complaints it takes them seriously, investigates them fully and, if necessary, employs its community relations officer to liaise between students and any residents affected by their actions.

"The Students Union also takes a proactive role in organising the annual Polygon clean-up, as well as running ongoing campaigns drawing students attention to their wider community responsibilities."