Queenstown police are hoping a liquor ban which kicks into effect today will result in better behaviour in the resort town.
Queenstown, south island, new zealand looking over Lake Wakatipu with the remarkables in the distance. Photo: 123RF
About 1000 people partied on the lakefront on Christmas Day leaving piles of bottles and rubbish for council workers to clean up.
Sergeant Keith Newell said no one was arrested but several people were removed from the party.
"We are disappointed in the overall level of intoxication, the crowd mostly overseas residents who live here, started drinking at 3pm.
"A few of them did try to clean up at the end of the night but it still took council workers a few hours on Boxing Day to clean up the mess, it's really disappointing."
He hopes the annual New Year liquor ban in the resort town will slow people down and promote more responsible behaviour.
The ban starts today and runs until 6 January.
More than 80 police officers have been bought into Queenstown to help deal with the influx of people over the Christmas and New Years period.