On Saturday a man and three women left their vehicle after it broke down and attempted to walk out of the remote Black River area before being forced to take shelter from the freezing conditions.

The group phoned 000 in the early hours of the morning and were able to provide general details of their location. The extensive search around Mt Skene involved Heyfield police, Police Search and Rescue and Maffra and Mansfield State Emergnecy Service units using four-wheel-drive vehicles and the Maffra oversnow vehicle.

Deep snow, blizzard conditions and many fallen trees made travel extremely slow for the vehicles.

The missing people were eventually located around 4pm on Lazarini spur by a team from Maffra SES in its ARGO oversnow vehicle.

The missing people were in relatively good spirits but certainly not equipped for the conditions. They were transported back to the 4WD vehicles by the Maffra SES vehicle.

It then took several hours for the police and SES vehicles to get back to Licola.

Police are reminding people the Licola-Jamieson Rd is closed every winter due to snow.

Police urge anyone planning to travel in the area to check weather conditions before they leave.