A man has been seriously hurt after the car he was driving crashed into a sheep on a rural highway, north-west of Auckland.
The incident has closed the road - Kaipara Coast Highway - between Barr and West Coast roads, a police spokeswoman said.
Diversions are in place as the police Serious Crash Unit investigates.
A St John ambulance spokeswoman said a man, the vehicle's sole occupant, was seriously injured and would be taken to hospital by helicopter.