Alan Spillane presided over Warrnambool Magistrates Court on Monday.

There were close to 60 items on the list and six people in the police station cells waiting to appear in court.

Mr Spillane was the only magistrate in the building's four courtrooms.

When a south-west man charged with minor offending did not appear, Mr Spillane asked for an adjournment to the next available date - 13 September.

He said he felt he'd been "hit over the head with a steel beam".

"13 September? That is crazy," he said.

"It can't be true."

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It comes after Jelena Popovic, a retired magistrate who sits on an as is needed basis in the absence of full-time magistrates, last month refused to remand a Warrnambool man in custody for five months, stating it was too long for a person to wait in custody.

The court heard the next available date for the hearing was in August.

Ms Popovic said she was "horrified" to hear of the wait times confronting the region's courts and said she would be writing to the chief magistrate.

The Standard wrote to the Magistrates' Court of Victoria at the time with questions about the region's increasing backlog.

Physical court appearances were reduced amid coronavirus fears from mid-March last year, with non-urgent matters adjourned off to October, or later.

A spokeswoman said the court was actively working with stakeholders to decrease pending matters.

She did not specify how many south-west matters were awaiting resolution.

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