Driver drowns in ditch

David Hearnden had just moved to the Hauraki plains. Photo / Supplied

A father-of-two died after being trapped in his overturned car in a ditch near his home for up to 12 hours.

David Hearnden, 47, was unable to escape from the "freak accident" because the channel was too narrow to open the doors.

A colleague discovered the farm worker off Puna Rd, near Thames, on Friday morning.

He was two weeks into a job at a farm in Hikutaia, on the Hauraki plains. It's understood he moved from Otorohanga in the King Country after splitting from his wife, Natasha.

Police are uncertain how his Holden Commodore saloon ended up in the ditch, but initial investigations showed it slid down the bank near his home, before quickly becoming submerged underwater.

His colleagues went looking for him when he failed to arrive for work and spotted his car almost immediately.

He was last seen after driving home from dinner at the house of his boss, Stephen King. King believes David could have been trying to wipe condensation from the inside of his windscreen and missed the turn towards his house.

"I think his windows might have been fogged up and we suspect that in trying to clear them he's put his windows down, meaning the water would have gone straight into the car.

"It's possible he was distracted while trying to clear the windows and ended up slipping down the ditch.

"After all the rain the water would have come into the car pretty fast.

"The [ditch] was so tight that he couldn't open the doors, but the boot was open so he may have been trying to climb out that way. It's just such a freak accident."

Police said David could have been in the canal for the entire 12 hours he was missing.

King said his employee was enjoying his new job after leaving Otorohanga for the first time in nine years.

Natasha said she and David came to New Zealand from Britain on holiday and decided to settle here and marry.

They have a 6-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter.

"Dave had never even stepped foot on a farm before New Zealand, but quickly learned and became a very skilled farmer," said Natasha. "He was taken from us far too early."

David's father-in-law Noel Hurley said the family were struggling to cope with his death.

"The little girl doesn't really know [what has happened] but the boy does. He pulled out some photos today and kept pointing at David and saying, 'That's my daddy'," Hurley said yesterday.

"He then went outside and picked out a star for him in the sky. It's such a tragedy."

David's family are planning to fly to New Zealand tomorrow or Tuesday. No date has been set for the funeral.