They have entertained tourists for decades, but Melbourne City Council is moving horse-drawn carriages away from the city's CBD.

Lord Mayor Robert Doyle said the carriages are a safety risk and need to shift due to construction works.

"Horse-drawn vehicles, modern traffic, a busy city, a million people a day — they just don't mix," he said.

At the moment, carriage operators can park and pick up passengers at a designated spot on Swanston Street, near the Young and Jackson's Hotel.

From June 30 — in five weeks' time — they will no longer be allowed to do so.

Underground rail tunnel forces change

Mr Doyle linked the move with construction of the underground CBD South station, part of the $11-billion Metro Tunnel project.

"The reality is, because of the Metro Tunnel, they can no longer operate from Swanston St," he said.

The council will continue to allow carriage operators to park and pick passengers up near the Arts Centre, south of the CBD.

Mr Doyle predicted the horse-drawn carriages would operate around the Botanic Gardens and Kings Domain.

Mayor blames 'cowboys' for safety risks

Mr Doyle believes the carriages are a safety risk, saying there had been "some pretty near misses".

He said in one case, a horse and carriage had bolted "which could have ended in disaster for all".

"We've had complaints ... of people who take fares in Swanston Street and then do a u-turn in front of trams. We've had incidents where people allow accidents to happen, and there's no accountability for it," he said.

"There are some great operators, but there are also some real cowboys."

He admitted the city council cannot stop the horse-drawn carriages continuing to enter the CBD.

"They are defined as vehicles, so they can travel through the city if they wish to do that. I can't stop them," he said.

"My preference is that they don't, because I don't think horse-drawn vehicles and modern traffic mix. But I have no power to stop them — that is a matter for VicRoads.

"They have to determine if they're vehicles, do they need to be registered, do the drivers need to be licenced, what insurances do they need. That's a matter for VicRoads, as it always has been."

Driver Dean Crichton says the new plan is unsafe. ( ABC News: Tom Nightingale )

Drivers angered

Some operators of Melbourne's horse-drawn carriages said the city council was risking public safety by discouraging them from the CBD.

Driver Dean Crichton said the plan is "crazy" and "unsafe" and accused the Lord Mayor of exaggerating the risk.

"We've never had any injuries, no deaths, no public damage," he said.

Another operator Alex MacDonald said the plan would mean cars in extremely close proximity to the horses.

"We [will] have cars going within six inches of us going 60kph," he said.

But the RSPCA has welcomed the decision.

"RSPCA Victoria has long held concerns for the welfare of these carriage horses in this notoriously busy and congested environment," it said in a statement.

Kristin Leigh from the Melbourne Against Horse-Drawn Carriages group said the council should ban all horse-drawn carriages.

"At the end of the day, this is an outdated practice … Profit is no excuse for cruelty," she said.