Daylesford's Rod Kirby was sitting in the front row of the public gallery, held in the Daylesford Town Hall, holding a sign which protested the implementation of a new policy allowing only written questions from the public.

However, when Mr Kirby, who last year attended a meeting dressed as Ned Kelly, stood and silently approached councillors with his sign he was asked repeatedly to sit down and then leave by Mayor Bill McClenaghan.

When he refused Cr McClenaghan adjourned the meeting and called police.

When the two police officers arrived the meeting was reconvened and Mr Kirby was again asked to leave.

He was finally escorted from the premises, accompanied by the two police officers - and a number of ratepayers, and the meeting resumed.

Last Wednesday, Cr McClenaghan said Mr Kirby had refused the "direction of the chair" and was clearly intent on disrupting the meeting.

Cr McClenaghan admitted he had pre-warned police that there could be problems after Mr Kirby also disrupted a ward meeting held on Monday night.

And while Cr McClenaghan said he could understand Mr Kirby's protest of the move from verbal to written questions it was a "decision of council".

"We are a tier of government and not there to be disrupted either by people being noisy or offensive," he said.

"I told him what I was going do - and gave him plenty of chances.

"He was shoving his placard in councillors' faces and I was not prepared to allow councillors to put up with that."

Cr McClenaghan said he had been unaware the police officers had carried a large canister of pepper spray into the meeting but that had been "a police decision".

"I am just glad they didn't turn up in full riot gear with machine guns," he said.

Under the policy questions for council must be submitted in writing by noon of the day of the council meeting.