Police dispose of liquor found in the campervan of German travellers Julien Sommer and Lena Wegner.

Beachgoers preparing for New Year's celebrations are being targeted by booze ban sweeps in Whangamatā.

Police were proactively enforcing liquor bans in Whangamatā early on Saturday evening, with officers in two large people movers and a transport van doing laps of the main roads and beach carparks.

Dismayed holidaymakers were asked to present and pour any alcohol they had in their vehicles. In one sweep of a beach carpark, police wrote up three $250 fines.

TOM LEE/STUFF An officer writes up a ticket after pouring out four bottles of beer found in the car of Auckland holidaymakers.

Hamiltonian Michael Wilson, 20, and his six friends had parked at the beach to swim before settling at a friends house for the weekend.

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The group had bought two boxes of vodka cruisers in Waihi just half an hour before. They were sealed and still cold, he said.

CHRISTEL YARDLEY/STUFF Whangamatā is bracing for a hectic New Year, with police out in numbers enforcing a liquor ban.

"I bought them for the police to tip them out," he said, jokingly.

Police asked them to open the car, he said, and they obliged. The cruisers were then poured out.

"It's a bit intimidating really, four police officers coming up to you."

Daniel Siasi, 19, also in the vehicle, said it was "revenue taxing".

"We work hard for our money, and they they come and tip it out."

Julien Sommer, 24, and Lena Wegner, 19, travellers from Germany touring the Coromandel in a campervan, were baffled to receive a fine.

"We were just here for a shower, an expensive shower," Sommer said.

The pair were unaware a liquor ban extended to having alcohol in a vehicle, and had six cans of beer and one 1.25L bottle of cider tipped out.

A visibly upset Wegner said: "New Zealand is a s... country, and I won't come here again."

"We won't pay it, we will talk to them."

Sommer was ambivalent: "It seems we have no other choice."

Danny Jeong, 24, travelled down from Auckland to spend the day at the beach along with four others. In a green chiller bag in the boot of their car sat four loose bottles of Heineken, which didn't leave the bag due to the liquor ban.

Two police officers approached the group and asked if they had any alcohol. "We were honest with them, we didn't lie or anything."

Written up for a $250 fine, the group was confused about what could have been done differently.

"They said they can't give out warnings because it's the New Year period - it's just a bit harsh," Jeong said.

"Our day trip to the beach just got $250 more expensive."

Waikato eastern area commander John Kelly said everyone knew there was a zero tolerance policy over the New Year period.

"The liquor ban is quite specific, if you buy a dozen beer from [a local liquor store] that's fine. But if you crack it on the way home, then you're breaching the liquor ban.

"You're supposed to take it direct to home. You can't deviate."

The enforcement was standard for liquor bans across the country, he said.

Under the Local Government Act, police enforcing a liquor ban are able to search vehicles without notice, provided there is at least one clearly marked sign indicating the ban.

If no liquor ban signage is present, police must first provide an opportunity for a person to remove their vehicle from the area.