Colleges save last dance for police

Police have scuppered plans for an after-ball party in a west Auckland warehouse for 500 students of North Shore Catholic colleges Rosmini and Carmel.

Area controller Inspector Mike Hill said if attempts were made to organise another illegal post-party function, police would attend the "gangsters and gamblers" ball on Thursday at North Harbour Stadium, and follow any pre-booked buses to their destinations.

Complaints from parents led to police involvement, said Mr Hill. "Quite a few were clearly distraught."

All-inclusive tickets for the after-ball, which would have illegally served alcohol to minors, were to have cost $35.

Police tracked down the organiser, a young man who Mr Hill believed was possibly a former Rosmini student, on Thursday.

"Buses were booked to pick up the students from the ball at midnight, and bus them to the venue, a factory or warehouse in west Auckland," said Mr Hill.

The organiser did not have a licence to sell alcohol and the building had not been inspected for safety.

The organiser told Mr Hill that he would organise a legal after-ball party, but nothing further had been heard.

"If the after-ball function continues in the format that was planned, we'd definitely take action," Mr Hill said, "but we'd be doing everything to dissuade people first."

"We're not trying to stop the kids enjoying themselves ... but there are issues of safety."

The principal of Carmel, Collene Roche, and of Rosmini, Tom Gerrard, have sent a joint letter to parents outlining the risk to teenagers of unsupervised, illegal after-ball functions.