Darwin venue forced to close after being inundated with patrons

A brewery in Darwin was forced to close on Friday night after being overwhelmed with patrons, while another was issued a formal warning for not adhering to COVID-19 measures.

Beaver Brewery in Coconut Grove made the decision to stop serving and close its doors just after 7 o'clock due to the high number of customers flooding in.

The local brewery opens just one night a week.

It comes a week after the Northern Territory relaxed its second stage of coronavirus restrictions.

Police applauded the decision of Beaver Brewery.

"The one that was really busy actually had a plan in place and it was doing a very good job," Superintendent Shaun Gill said.

"A large crowd attended on very short notice, and they were unable to deal with the public due to the number of people who arrived, so to their credit they actually closed their doors and no longer served because they couldn't abide by the COVID-19 restrictions."

NT police say no fines were issued throughout the evening, and authorities are still taking an educative approach.

"We want to give them an opportunity to comply and then after that, if they continue to fail, then infringement notices will be issued," Superintendent Gill said.

The fine for a licensed premises breaching COVID-19 measures is $5000.

"People still need to be reminded that we're still coming out of quite a serious event," Superintendent Gill said.

"We want businesses and individuals to abide by what's going on – the ramifications are that we could end up where we were before which is what we don't want."

The third and final stage of restrictions will be lifted on June 5 – which will see all other businesses and organisations able to re-open, with no time limit on services, nor will people have to order meals with their drinks at bars and clubs.

"This is just a timely reminder for all involved that the onus is on individuals as well as licensed premises."