Boy seriously injured after being run over in Kaitaia

A two-year-old boy was seriously injured when he was run over by a four-wheel-drive vehicle in Kaitaia's main street mid-morning today.

The child, whose condition was initially described as serious, was flown to Auckland's Starship Hospital by rescue helicopter so he could be checked for possible internal injuries.

A senior police spokesman said the driver of the Mitsubishi Pajero, a 47-year-old local woman, had pulled into a parking space just south of the Post Office.

She then reversed a little, after checking her distance from the kerb, and collided with the boy, who she had not seen.