Binge drinkers mar Ohakune Mardi Gras

The weekend's Mountain Mardi Gras at Ohakune was marred by binge drinking with many revellers getting so drunk they were unable to make it back to their accommodation, police say.

One 16 year-old girl was so drunk she could not tell officers where she was from and a man who was so drunk he had defecated in his pants.

Police made 54 arrests in the central North Island town over the weekend, 50 of which were for breaches of the liquor ban. Police also stopped 29 drivers who were caught driving over the blood-alcohol limit.

Most of the arrests took place outside the fenced off Mardi Gras and many caught breaching the liquor ban were teenagers, Sergeant Mike Craig said.

"It never fails to amaze police the number of heavily intoxicated people who have made it to the Mardi Gras area, gotten separated from their friends and are not able to get home," Mr Craig said.

"A good number of these people have no idea where the house they have rented is," he said.

Mardi Gras organiser David Williams said the event was a success with 8000 people attending.

The majority of people at the event were well behaved and "happy drunk" rather than disorderly, he said.

The event was the hugely important for Ohakune economically and was the biggest event in the Ruapehu region, Mr Williams said.

As part of being a responsible event they would continually look at strategies to reduce the numbers of binge drinkers, he said.

Police would enforce the liquor ban even more harshly at next year's Mardi Gras, Mr Craig said.

- NZPA