Families shocked by car vandals near Masterton

The car was used to do burnouts before it was set alight near a river.

A rural road was engulfed in smoke as a group of people used their phones to film a vehicle doing a lengthy burnout before the car was torched near a river.

Witnesses to the Saturday evening event near Masterton said the car's passenger kept the door wide open as the driver lost traction for the cameras, despite the onlookers.

"You could see nothing but thick, black smoke," said a woman who did not want to be named.

"We saw the smoke just billowing out - we were out there looking at them and they didn't care."

The woman and her husband went outside to see what the commotion was, along with their neighbours who had two "scared" children.

"The passenger in the car had the door open.

"They were going slow but burning rubber and making a hell of a noise - we could hardly breathe because of the smoke."

The group were laughing and in no rush, she said.

"The car just burnt along the road and then stopped, I assume so they could get a good photo."

The residents then watched the group in three vehicles drive down the gravel track to the river.

The police were called and, shortly after, the residents saw the group, thought to be in their early 20s, drive away in two vehicles.

"They left the scene before we saw the smoke."

The residents discovered the third vehicle ablaze at the Waingawa River and called the fire service.

Masterton fire station officer Mike Cornford said firefighters were called around 8pm on Saturday.

Police attended and spoke to the witnesses.

Constable Mike Wakefield said the burnt-out vehicle was not stolen and the owner had towed it from the site yesterday morning.

He said no charges would be laid as police could not confirm who was driving the vehicle when the burnouts occurred.

Yesterday, swerving tyre marks could be seen spanning from the Cornwall Rd intersection to the end of the sealed section at the northern end of Hughes Line.