Various companies in the Lower Mainland rent out buses, limousines and trucks for roving parties. (Wilfredo Lee/Associated Press)

Limousines and party buses rented for private engagements are becoming new places for teenagers to drink to excess, the chair of a Lower Mainland school district says.

Roving limousine parties have spawned a new trend in teenaged drinking, said Cheryl Ashlie, chair of the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows School District.

Various companies in the Lower Mainland rent out limousines or party buses that tour around the city at night. Many such vehicles come with dance poles, seat 20 or more people and cost $200 or more per hour to rent.

Ashlie said that she has observed more teenagers getting into this kind of partying, and that she worries that some companies are turning a blind eye to underage drinking.

"It's my understanding they ... deny it. [But] I don't know how 30 kids get on a bus sober, fall off drunk, and you can deny something happened there," Ashlie said.

"I want these companies to have to be responsible for their businesses that they are running."

Shelley Harrison, manager of Vancouver Party Bus, which has a fleet of 23 vehicles, said people renting their vehicles do drink, but their customers have never been underage.

"Underage drinking is not allowed on our buses. Our drivers enforce it, our office enforces it and our clients who book it understand our rules," Harrison said.

Ashlie said that she's not convinced there's sufficient monitoring in the industry and that she has raised her concerns with Linda Reid, B.C.'s minister for child care.

With files from Ben Hadaway