TO many Southampton residents they are the irresponsible and grotesque caricatures of the popular TV sitcom The Young Ones.

And the mountains of waste - from mattresses and unwanted furniture to piles of old papers - that blight the gardens and streets where students live has not helped dispel that image.

Now, in response to calls for action, council rubbish inspectors will soon be door-knocking students as part of a crackdown on the end-of-year dumping.

Southampton City Council will also start to hold landlords to account for the rubbish left by their tenants at the end of term.

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

The council will work with universities and students' groups to raise the profile of the problem with an information campaign involving e-mails, letters and door-knocking - accompanied by police and community support officers if needed.

Student volunteers will be recruited to become "recycling champions" to encourage others to act in an environmentally friendly way rather than like the slobby social inadequates portrayed in The Young Ones, a 1980s TV series starring Rik Mayall.

Landlords will be warned they could face legal action under environmental legislation if they do not clean up their properties. Residents will also be encouraged to ring an action line to report problems.

Andrew Trayer, the council's head of waste, said: "It's about making sure residents know we are taking this issue seriously.

"We cannot allow irresponsible behaviour that impacts on people's lives."

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.

Southampton has a student population of 41,000 between its two universities, with an estimated half living in rented accommodation.

Lorraine Barter from Residents Action Group in the Polygon, one of the worst affected areas, said: "This place is awash with ironing boards and furniture when they leave."

She said there was risk of increasing the problem by charging to clear waste.

"If people will have to pay £25 some will begrudge spending the money," she said, adding: "I totally support enforcement. It should have been done years ago."

Colin Bagust, a Southampton spokesman for the National Federation of Residential Landlords, said: "There clearly has been a problem in previous years. The council has been concerned tradesmen and outsiders have brought the waste in. The proposals are very reasonable."

He said landlords would contact tenants about the scheme.

A Southampton University spokesman said it was already working with the council, landlords and residents on waste management initiatives such as funding a new weekend clear-up and actively promoting awareness of recycling and waste issues among all its students.

A Southampton Solent University spokesman said: "We will to continue work closely with the appropriate agencies to inform and raise awareness among students and landlords of correct and environmentally sound waste disposal."

DO YOU KNOW A YOUNG ONE'?

Do you have a "Young Ones" house mate? Is his or her room the pits?

Or is your teenage son's bedroom something that would make TV clean-up queens Kim and Aggie shudder?

We want the evidence.

Send us photos of the mess and mayhem so we can name and shame the guilty.

There will be prizes of clean-up goodies for those pics we print.

E-mail your photos to picdesk@dailyecho.co.uk. Text pictures to 80360 (25p plus your usual network charge).

So what are you waiting for? Shame them into cleaning up!