Car crashes into Te Puke house, ends up completely inside

A Te Puke family were unable to enter their home after a car ploughed into their brick house with so much force that emergency services were struggling to remove it.

The blue Nissan hit the Raymond Ave house with such impact yesterday , it may have compromised the structure of the home.

Police at the scene said the driver had been travelling west along Dunlop Rd when she lost control. The car careened across a neighbouring property, clipped a parked car and went through a fence before crashing into the brick house. No one was home at the time.

Shocked residents gathered in the street wondering what happened as police began winding emergency tape around the property. Bricks and broken pieces of plaster board and framing lay strewn around the car.

The owner of the home, who did not want to be named, said his 8-year-old daughter usually played on the deck and grass area where the car hit the house.

"I am glad no one was home. My daughter is very lucky."

His wife was upset after they returned home after the crash and were taken away from the scene by family friend Jaswinder Singh.

"When they arrived, and the wife saw it she just started crying, thinking about her daughter – always sitting there, always playing," Singh said.

It was unclear when the family would be able to return or even if they would be able to go inside to retrieve some belongings.

Te Puke volunteer fire and emergency chief Glenn Williams said the stability of the house appeared to have been compromised.

A truck carrying LPG cylinders crashes into a ditch on SH2 near Apata Station Road, prompting partial closure of the highway. Photo / George Novak

"Until a builder can get here and have a look at the house and what support it needs, I wouldn't recommend anyone going near it."

Neighbour Bryce Glover said he had been mucking about at home when he heard the crash.

"I thought something had fallen off the back of a truck," he said. "I came running out and saw the fence where the car had gone through. Then I saw the car inside the house."

Glover said the driver had already got out of the car and appeared confused.

"She was in shock, I think."

Other neighbours had already begun calling emergency services while others tried calling the owners of the house.

Sergeant Kelvin McGrath said the woman was not seriously injured and was taken to Tauranga Hospital for cautionary measures.

The crash was one of series of accidents in the Western Bay yesterday afternoon, including a car which hit a side rail on Te Matai Rd between Mark Rd and Waimea Dr.

Three people were inside this vehicle when it left the road and crashed down a bank near Cheyne Rd. Photo / Kristen Macfarlane

In Tauranga, a green Mitsubishi Mirage landed upside down on State Highway 29a between the Barkes Corner roundabout and the Oropi roundabout. Three people were inside when the car crashed through a fence on Cheyne Rd, landing upside down in a private paddock next to John's Produce Centre on Oropi Rd.

One person had possible "spinal injuries".

John's Produce Centre staff member Wayne Hill said he and another staff member were getting some boxes when they heard two bangs. He went outside and saw the car upside down and people outside of it.

"We heard this impact and then another when it hit the ground," Hill said. "We went running inside to ring the ambulance."

A section of SH2 at Apata was partially closed when a truck carrying LPG cylinders crashed into a ditch, and emergency services were also called to a minor crash on Cameron Rd.