Three Melbourne residents have been caught trying to get into New Zealand during Victoria’s coronavirus lockdown.

Australia and New Zealand still have a travel bubble arrangement in place, however, travel from Victoria was “paused” last month after the latest coronavirus outbreak began.

Authorities say they drove to Sydney from Melbourne and boarded a flight to Auckland.

The three were identified when they arrived into New Zealand and were immediately transferred to a managed isolation facility in Auckland where they will remain for a 14-day period

Trans-Tasman travel bubble paused with popular business hub of Australia

New Zealand has paused its travel bubble with the Australian state of Victoria.

The country’s covid-19 response minister says quarantine-free travel will be paused while the source of Melbourne’s recent community cases is investigated.

The suspension will come into effect from 7.59PM local time tonight and will last for 72 hours.

The New Zealand Government says it “understands the disruption this will temporarily cause affected passengers. It was a close call but the correct one given the current unknowns.”