A SOUTHAMPTON MP has urged civic chiefs to call time on mass student pub crawls in the city.

Itchen MP John Denham wants to ban private companies, such as Carnage UK, from running the controversial events which see hundreds of university revellers descending on the city’s nightspots.

His call comes just weeks after a student sparked outrage when he was captured on camera appearing to urinate against Southampton’s Cenotaph.

The shadow Business Secretary wants the city council to use licensing powers to scrap the huge pub crawls.

However, bosses at the authority say they do not have the power to ban the mass gatherings. Carnage organisers have always maintained that their events are safe and professionally run.

But Mr Denham said: “Events structured in the way Carnage is inevitably encourage students to drink excessively, as anyone who’s seen the photos on Carnage Southampton’s Facebook page will testify.

“In turn, this binge-drinking contributes significantly to the disturbance of local residents and incidents of antisocial behaviour. I hope the council and the students’ unions will work with me in getting Carnage kicked out of Southampton.”

Last month, more than 1,000 students mobilised for a Carnage UKorganised bar crawl through Southampton.

An earlier event hit the headlines after a picture emerged purporting to be a student urinating on the Cenotaph in Watts Park, Southampton.

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City council leader Royston Smith called the Cenotaph incident “completely unacceptable”.

But he added: “The majority of Southampton students act responsibly and it would be wrong to tarnish them by the actions of one individual. It is important to be clear – Carnage UK is a promotions company and they hold no licence for the sale of alcohol, so are not tied to the legislation within the Licensing Act.

Simply put, the council has no powers to ban them.

“What we can do and what we have done is work with pubs and clubs, the police and the company itself to make sure they taking all the precautions they can to make sure these events are undertaken responsibly and safely.”

A Carnage spokesman said that stewards supervise on the nights, and claimed the pub crawls are safe, carefully planned and provide a boost to the city’s economy.