Students at Richmond College have been branded litter louts amid mounting calls for the introduction of more bins around Twickenham town centre.
Long-suffering residents, who are fed up with having rubbish dropped near their homes, say the problem has also spread to the centre of Twickenham and claim youngsters regularly dump empty pizza boxes, sandwich boxes and wrappers near the station and up as far as Tesco in Isleworth.
Philip Morgan, a local councillor in St Margarets and North Twickenham, said the problem was compounded by student fashion, because clothes lack pockets to put rubbish in until it can be placed in the nearest bin.
"It really is quite a serious problem," he said. "There is a trail of litter from Tesco right along the Chertsey Road. At 4.30pm it looks as if someone has emptied a refuse bin."
Richmond College recognised the problems and said staff were even going out litter picking in nearby streets in the afternoon.
It has put out a bin at the worst-affected area and is looking to introduce more in coming months, a spokeswoman added.
The Egerton Road college has 4,500 students, many of whom travel in from Whitton, Isleworth, Hounslow and surrounding towns.
