Warrnambool hospitality venues refuse entry to more than 100 Melbourne residents on Saturday night

The Hotel Warrnambool knocked back 56 people, Rafferty's Tavern more than 40 and The Whalers Hotel and Seanchai Hotel about a dozen each from the lockdown Melbourne region.

Publicans said some people were playing dumb about not knowing COVID regulations while others were willfully breaking the rules of Victoria's chief health officer.

Melbourne residents in regional areas have to follow the regulations of their home address - takeaway meals only in regional areas where lockdown rules were lifted at midnight last Monday.

Whalers Hotel publican Alister Porter said the concern was that a Melbourne resident would come to regional Victoria and test positive to COVID-19.

"That's the real fear. Someone from Melbourne comes down here, tests positive and regional Victoria will be back in lockdown," he said.

"We are all trying to do the right thing, get people to check in and then check their identification.

"We have a staff member at the front door, have since Tuesday this week and they've been knocking back a dozen people every night."

Mr Porter said venues were very aware of their responsibilities and wanted to keep their venue and the community safe.

"Some people are playing dumb and some are getting a bit nasty," he said.

It's understood the Hotel Warrnambool refused entry to 56 Melbourne residents on Saturday night.

Rafferty's Tavern publican Mark McIlroy said his staff refused entry to more than 40 people on Saturday night after 10 were knocked back on Friday evening.

"We just got sick of counting," he said.

"We are checking everyone who is not a regular. They know they are not allowed to come out to venues for sit-down meals.

"I would have had a dozen arguments with people refusing to leave.

"It's all about safety. The rules are in place and we have systems in place to follow those rules.

"We will double and triple check to keep our venue and our community safe."

Mr McIlroy said many Melbourne residents explained they could not understand why they were not allowed into hospitality venues.

"I'm constantly hearing the argument 'I'm not from a hotspot'. But, all Melbourne is a hotspot - please don't try and gain entry.

"We are happy to provide takeaways," he said.

Seanchai Irish Pub publican Matt McMahon said he had check systems in place that led to dozens of Melbournians being turned away at the weekend.

"While some of them just cop it, a few do seem a bit entitled," he said.

"They believe they should be allowed in which certainly isn't the case. We just want to keep our community protected and always err on the side of caution.

"We're always fearing another lockdown, so it's frustrating that there's still people out there flouting the law. We're still running at very limited numbers and want to open up a bit more soon."

Warrnambool police Acting Sergeant Glenn Giles said its was crystal clear that some Melbourne residents did not want to follow the regulations of the chief health officer.

"We all know the rules and sadly some people do not want to comply. That's it in a nutshell," he said.

"Some people don't care and if they blatantly breach the rules they could be liable for a $1817 fine.

"These Melbourne residents are potentially putting regional Victoria at risk.

"Anyone with information about people breaching COVID regulations are asked to immediately contact their local police station and press one for the police assistance line.

"We will conduct follow up enquiries. I suspect that many of these people shouldn't be leaving their Melbourne homes at all."

Warrnambool police Superintendent Martin Hardy said members had recently conducted close to 400 compliance checks across the region.

"Those checks are across the board - businesses, residents and vehicle checks," he said.

"We've issued a number of warnings and 15 penalties for those gathering in numbers and against the chief health officer's regulation but the majority of locals are doing the right thing.

"Our guys and girls are out there actively checking. Our businesses are all on high alert, making sure people are checking in and following the rules.

"We're also following up calls about noisy parties and that sort of thing which is clearly not accepted. We want to remain COVID free in this part of the world and those found breaching the rules will face fines."

The telephone number for the Warrnambool police station is 5560 1333 and then press the No. 1 for the police assistance line.

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