Gisborne gang brawl not the first - police

File photo / Martin Sykes

The Gisborne suburb in which a violet gang brawl broke out on Friday night has seen similar incidents between the two rival gangs before, police say.

Three men were admitted to Waikato hospital yesterday after a fight between members of Black Power and the Mongrel Mob. The incident - which involved weapons but no firearms - happened at a home in Dalton Street, in the suburb of Kaiti, about 8pm on Friday.

Kaiti had been the site of gang fights before in which people had been seriously injured, Detective Senior Sergeant Stephen Smith told NZPA.

Dalton Street resident Graham Gittens told the Sunday News he was planning on moving because he had "had enough". Mr Gittens said another resident's house sale had fallen through because of the gang presence on the street.

Two of the injured men are still in serious conditions in the hospital's high dependency unit and the third is in a comfortable condition in a ward.

Waikato Hospital had to increase security following the admissions of the men to avoid further conflict.

Police are speaking to the many witnesses at the fight.

Mr Smith said he expected charges would be laid soon, though no arrests had been made.

- NZPA