Cambridge end-of-term drinking parties are facing a potential police clampdown after a series of drunken incidents last year.

Cambridge police have issued direct warnings to organisers of undergraduate drinking societies and other student events that they could risk breaking the law.

The warning comes on the eve of the Cambridge May Ball and Garden Party season, including the infamous ‘Suicide Sunday’, the Sunday immediately following the end of Full Term, when a large number of drinking events are planned.

The warning also comes amidst increasing alarm over post-exam student behaviour.

At the 2008 Wyverns Garden Party, an event run by Magdalene’s drinking society the Wyverns, a student was cautioned for assault after allegedly punching a fellow student on the nose.

This year, police and local businesses are working together to deal proactively with binge drinking and anti-social behaviour.

New licensing rules have been in effect since April 6th, restricting certain drinking games and "irresponsible" drink promotions.

In particular, the police are aiming to target offers which, in their words, promise "all you can drink for so many pounds, discounted student nights, drink four pints and get a fifth pint free, and so on."

The new restrictions also prohibit pouring alcohol directly into a person’s mouth, thereby banning the popular drinking game known as ‘dentist’s chair’, a traditional fixture at Suicide Sunday events all over Cambridge.

Peter Sinclair, Cambridgeshire Police’s Licensing Officer, cautioned students to be practice responsible drinking and keep their personal safety in mind.

According to PC Sinclair, "Clearly this is a time of celebration for students and the chance to let their hair down." However, he added that "they need to be mindful of dangers of excessive consumption and the harm that can result."

Student reactions to the new licensing rules were mixed. According to one member of the Cheerleaders’ Drinking Society, "I can understand that it’s really irritating for the local people, but at the same time we behave really well all year, and Suicide Sunday is the one day of the year when we drink as much as they do at other universities."

A Queens’ second-year felt that students were being targeted unfairly. "It just seems like students are always being blamed," she said.

A Trinity student was more sympathetic to the new restrictions: "Students have a bizarre attitude to alcohol. I would drink a whole bottle of wine at formal, but I realise that that’s excessive drinking, which is essentially a socially acceptable form of self-harm.

"What we drink and what the government recommends is so far apart, and the police and the NHS have to deal with the consequences of alcohol, which isn’t fair on them."