Police were called to the bar last night after an unsuccessful attempt to evict the woman, Hinekura Lawson-Candelaria, by a group led by the bar's new owner, Hans van der Laan, of Dunedin.
Mr van der Laan said he bought the business two weeks ago, and last week Ms Lawson-Candelaria had been given 10 days to vacate the bar.
He claimed she had failed to pay the building's owner, Dunedin man Dung Tran, about $130,000 in unpaid rent accrued over 18 months.
The 10-day notice period expired at 5pm yesterday, and Mr van der Laan was at the bar with Mr Tran, the pair's lawyer, John Beck, and two locksmiths, to evict Ms Lawson-Candelaria and change the locks.
However, police were called when Ms Lawson-Candelaria refused to leave after being presented with a trespass notice.
The arrival of three uniformed officers led to tense negotiations inside and outside the bar, lasting more than an hour.
Two lawyers acting for Ms Lawson-Candelaria were also called and joined the negotiations.
The 90-minute debate ended when police decided they could not intervene, saying it was a civil matter and a court bailiff was needed to present the trespass notice, Mr van der Laan said.
He later said the situation was "just a total shambles".
He had planned to take possession of the bar this weekend and close it to conduct a stocktake, before reopening on Monday.
"We wanted to get into our building. We take possession of our building from this weekend and we can't get in.
"It's unbelievable," he said.
Contacted at the bar last night, Ms Lawson-Candelaria said she did not want to "buy into any games that are going to be played out through the media".
Asked specifically about claims of unpaid rent, she again declined to comment, saying the matter was being dealt with by her lawyers.
Mr Tran also declined to comment when contacted.
Mr van der Laan said the bar's 18 gaming machines - owned by the Southern Victorian Charitable Trust - had also been switched off this week, amid claims the takings from the machines had not been banked properly by Ms Lawson-Candelaria.
Trust chairman Alan Gramstrup said it was inappropriate for him to comment "at this stage".
A temporary authority had been granted by the district licensing agency to the new operators of the Heffs Hotel business earlier this week, it was confirmed.
The temporary authority allowed a new licensee to operate an existing licensed premises and trade, for up to three months, under the licence conditions and terms, until a new application could be considered by the district licensing agency.
