Constable Bridget McLaren, left, Sergeant Jon Harris and exhibits officer John Bramhall dispose of about $20,000 worth of confiscated liquor.

Christchurch police have been ordered to remove more than 300 litres of alcohol they poured down a drain.

Police confiscated 343 litres of grog from a Christchurch restaurant in June after it was caught displaying alcohol for sale without a licence.

The alcohol was tipped out at the central Christchurch police station on Thursday after the Christchurch District Court issued a destruction order.

ALDEN WILLIAMS/FAIRFAX NZ 493 bottles of alcohol, or 321 litres, were tipped out in total.

The haul of booze, worth about $20,000, included French champagnes, $800 red wines, expensive cognac and 18-year-old whisky.

READ MORE: Christchurch cops pour $20,000 worth of confiscated alcohol down the drain

It was tipped into a vehicle wash bay drain, which led to a 1000 litre holding tank connected to the sewerage system, but the Christchurch City Council on Friday ordered the alcohol's removal.

ALDEN WILLIAMS/FAIRFAX NZ Constable Bridget McLaren pours some cognac down the drain along with approximately $20,000 worth of confiscated liquor.

"The council however does not accept this type of raw (undiluted) waste into the sewer network and we have notified the NZ Police to have their tanks sucked out by a waste disposal company immediately where it can be treated off site appropriately. The police have agreed and have actioned this immediately," council waters and waste head John Mackie said.

Police alcohol harm reduction unit Sergeant Jon Harris earlier said anything entering the drains there went through "a series of filters" before entering holding tanks.

A police spokeswoman said the station's vehicle wash facilities were required to have a trade waste consent and an "approved treatment system" for disposing water to the city's wastewater system.

ALDEN WILLIAMS/FAIRFAX NZ Environment Canterbury is investigating police's disposal method for over 300 litres of confiscated alcohol.

"The wash water goes into the sewerage system, not the stormwater drains, and therefore has no impact on waterways," she said.

The Christchurch City Council Water Supply, Wastewater and Stormwater Bylaw 2014 states no-one may allow anything "that causes or is likely to cause a nuisance" to enter the stormwater system, either directly or indirectly, unless authorised by the council.

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