Kiwi farmer killed in Australian quad bike smash

A New Zealand farmer has died in rural New South Wales after a quad bike smash. File photo / Thinkstock

A New Zealand farmer has been found dead on a property in rural New South Wales after a fatal quad bike smash.

Australian police confirmed that Lindsay Roy Holmes, 65, was found dead in a dry creekbed on a property near Tingha on Monday morning.

Mr Holmes, originally from Christchurch, was found by a friend at the farm on Monday after he was reported missing on Sunday night.

Police said officers, as well as friends and family of Mr Holmes, searched the property, but the search was called off at dusk because of a number of abandoned mine shafts in the area.

The search of the Long Valley Road property resumed at daylight on Monday, and Mr Holmes was found dead in a mostly dry creekbed at 8am.

Local police said it appeared that Mr Holmes and the quad bike had fallen about four metres into the creekbed where he suffered fatal internal injuries.

A spokesman for New South Wales police said: "We're not 100 per cent sure of the exact circumstances, but it appears he has come off his quad bike and the bike has landed on him, or rolled over him, and done fatal damage to him.

"There had been a washout in the track and he's hit that had fallen about four metres down a bank into the creekbed.

"A report has been submitted to the coroner and his family in New Zealand have been informed."

A spokesman for Christchurch police confirmed that Mr Holmes' relatives have been told.

A report has been sent to the coroner but police expected a conclusion of accidental death.