Kaitangata mayor inundated with more than 5000 messages

Kaitangata is about 10km south-east of Balclutha, and sits on the Clutha River delta. Photo / Otago Daily Times

More than 5000 messages have been left with the mayor of Kaitangata from people around the world eager to live in the tiny South Island town.

The community of just 800 people has been pushing to expand its numbers in order to fill the numerous job vacancies and affordable houses by appealing to city-dwellers to make the move to the mouth of the Clutha river.

Many British citizens were citing the Brexit as their reason for wanting to move down under, the Guardian has reported.

The most interest had reportedly come from Syria, Poland, the US and Britain.

"We've been getting smashed," Bryan Cadogan, the local mayor of Clutha, told the Guardian.

"It has perked the spirits of the locals up hugely, we don't know how to deal with this, we're unprepared."

Mr Cadogan had more than 5000 unanswered messages on his phone and thousands more had been sent through social media and by email.

The Herald reported yesterday the tiny town was making world headlines in its attempts to entice people to move there, offering attractive land and house offers.

Under the scheme city dwellers are being offered house and land packages at around $230,000 - a price exasperated Auckland house hunters would not be able to imagine in their wildest dreams as the country's housing crisis continues to bite.

Evan Dick, a third generation dairy farmer offering house and land packages said he had been "overwhelmed" with international interest.

"It's gone nuts. A mother and her two children just flew in. I took them to their section and the look on her face was magical. 'Is this all ours?' I can already see positivity and vibrancy flowing through the town. Who would have thought Kaitangata would ever be on the world map?"

Kaitangata Promotions is the group behind the recruitment drive and they have scheduled a meeting on Monday with local community groups and businesses to plan the next steps for the town.