Tractor, bicycle and building: three crashes on the North Island in one hour

Emergency services across the North Island have been busy tonight, with at least three separate vehicle crashes, all within an hour.

A witness says a car crashed into a concrete barrier at the intersection of Broadway and Fenton Sts in Stratford.

Empire Hotel deputy director Sarah Tasker said the Stratford accident sounded like a “ranch slider slamming shut.”

“There were three police cars. The lady hit her head on the windshield. The car is pretty broken. I heard a noise that sounded like a ranch slider slamming shut. I was pouring a beer when it happened,” he says.

St John said two people were taken to Taranaki Base Hospital in New Plymouth, one in serious condition and the other in moderate condition.

Police received a report at 4:45 p.m. that a car crashed into a building, a police spokesman said.

Further north, police responded to an accident involving a motorcycle and a car around 4 p.m. in Maungaturoto.

The accident happened on Bickerstaffe Rd, a police spokesman said.

“Ambulance and FENZ are also responding,” the spokesperson said.

“It appears that a person has been transported to a rescue helicopter.”

St John said that one person was transported by helicopter to the Northland Base hospital in Whangārei in moderate condition.

In the far north, a person was injured by a tractor in Mangonui.

Police were called to the scene on Midgley Rd around 4.05pm.

An ambulance also attended to assess the person and the injury was not serious, a police spokesman said.