Lions fans urged to plan travel to Stadium

Wellington Police are urging people to plan their trip and allow plenty of time to reach Westpac Stadium before kickoff in Wednesday night's Lions v Wellington rugby match.

"With a mid week game there will be people staying on in the city after work," says Inspector Paul Berry, Operation Lions Commander. "We don't want 40,000 people being hooked up with normal peak commuter flows so our advice is to get to the game early."

Roads will be congested so use trains and buses, Inspector Berry says.

A public liquor ban applies from midday on match day, Wednesday 15 June, through to 6am on Thursday, 16 June. The area includes from north of the ferry terminals south through the CBD to Oriental Bay. This means you cannot drink or possess alcohol in public places in the central city apart from outside seating areas in bars and cafes where special licenses apply.

Inspector Berry says patience and public safety are the keys to everyone enjoying the night.

"Drunken or irresponsible behaviour which affects the safety of others won't be tolerated, either inside the Stadium or elsewhere in the city.

"We will have a high profile police presence on the streets," he says. "Some staff will be at the game working closely with Stadium security but our main focus is in the CBD both before and after the match.

"We're treating Wednesday night's game as very much business as usual with the exception of the liquor ban which starts at midday."

Foot and mobile patrols will operate in the city and on the main arterial routes.

"We expect the city to be humming for a few hours after the game and have planned for this. But if everyone plays by the rules then hopefully we won't have too many people sin-binned to our cells," Inspector Berry says.

ENDS

© Scoop Media