A residential Falmouth street was filled with drunken revellers and broken glass on Thursday night as a student party grew out of hand and attracted the "scuzz of Falmouth."

Residents contacted the Packet on Friday morning after being woken or kept awake by the sound of breaking glass, loud conversations and loud music, with one person reporting at least 100 people in the house on Western Terrace and 50 in the street outside.

Police were called but officers did not arrive until at least an hour after the party was reported, as people began to slink away at around 3.30am.

One resident said: "A rising noise level in the vicinity woke residents. Students spilled out into Marlborough Road and Western Terrace, a contingent of these staggered about, screaming, smashing things, flashing phone brought a growing hoard of car headlights and possibly drug dealers to the scene."

Another said she did not think the students who lived in the house had intended for such a large scale event to occur, but instead people were walking past her house and spreading the word by calling friends.

She said: "I heard a coffee table being smashed, it was three local lads doing that. I have got this sort of people attracted to where I live because these naive idiots were having a party."

She added: "I'm no pussy cat but I was scared... it was intimidating."

"I saw someone completing a drug transaction... it wasn't students it was the scuzz of Falmouth turned up. It was local people.

"They were the ones who broke the coffee table, but they weren't the ones who started the party."

She said the lack of sleep meant that she was late for work the next morning, costing her money, while other sick and elderly residents complained of being kept awake, and scared of what could be happening outside.

She added that she did not have a problem with students, but was more angry at the university for failing to control them properly, while still taking millions in fees each year, and the police for not turning up when they were called.

And she said: "I don't see why, in this day and age, they can't commission a response team for the university," and added that she was "pro-student" and the town would be worse off without them.

The first neighbour asked: "Just what are the college doing about student disturbances this season? We don't want the tear off apology note. We want the college to physically monitor student areas. We want a quick response from police or an authority which can step in when polite requests from residents are sneered at."

She added that the people who originally threw the party were "respectable youngsters," who were outside the next morning cleaning up."

Robert Hillier, head of communications at Falmouth University, said: "Falmouth University, and its service provider FX Plus, have a close working relationship with the local police and environmental health and we would always urge people to report anti-social behaviour to these agencies in the first instance, before the university can investigate any complaints more fully."

An FX Plus spokesperson confirmed the campus community line received a complaint, which was "logged and passed to the relevant department," and the residents had been visited by FX Plus employees, "who discussed the impact of their actions on the local community." They added: "The residents have apologised to their neighbours."

A spokesperson for Digs, the company which rents out the property, said its tenants had been contacted, as had their parents who are guarantors on the lease. They added that the students had been told it was a breach of their contract and given a warning, while the neighbours had been given a 24 hour contact line.

And Inspector Ian Thompson, head of Falmouth Police, confirmed the force received three calls but did not attend for an hour due to other priority calls, and officers "did not witness any criminal behaviour and the people were dispersing."

He added: "The university and police have agreed protocols to address reports of antisocial behaviour from students living in the community.

If there is a further incidents the police and university will conduct a joint visit where the occupants of the house may be entered into the first stages of the ASB escalation process.

"The police look to deal with all spectrums of society in the same way to ensure the safety and welfare of the entire community without impeding individual’s right to lawful activity I would be deeply disappointed if the student population were unfairly targeted or seen as easy option to point the finger to any antisocial behaviour that occurs in the area."

A petition for the university to set up a 24 hour response team can be found at change.org/p/dawn-french-protect-students-and-residents-and-get-fal-uni-to-provide-24-hour-response-to-anti-social-behaviour