Onehunga food parcel giveaway sparks traffic gridlock in Auckland suburb

Traffic queued on Onehunga Mall as food parcels are handed out. Photo / Supplied

Free food is causing traffic headaches in the Auckland suburb of Onehunga today, with gridlock along the suburb's main street as food parcels are handed out.

A resident told the Herald it was "chaos on Onehunga Mall" this morning.

"They're giving out food parcels to people in need and there's cars for miles waiting to get one.

"Police said lots of people obviously in need."

Another resident said traffic was still backed up as of 12.15pm, and another person tweeted the bus station was also "completely blocked".

Gird lock in #Onehunga as the Indian Consulate is giving out free food to people with cars. Bus station is completely blocked. 😮 pic.twitter.com/VHn6qPFIP2

— Nicholas Lee (@stateless) September 17, 2021

Police are at the scene helping with traffic and there were no concerns about any breach of alert level 4 rules, a spokeswoman said.

The giveaway has been jointly organised by the Auckland Indian Diaspora, according to a post on the Indians in New Zealand Facebook page.

"Free food bags for family in need by Indian community in Auckland on Saturday 18th September from 11am to 2pm at consulate of India in 133 Onehunga Mall, Onehunga," a flier posted online says.

"Stay in your car while in queue and [a] volunteer [will] put food bag in your car boot."

The Indian community of Auckland organised food parcels for those in need this morning. Photo / Supplied

The Indian Consulate is based on Onehunga Mall, which is the suburb's main commercial street.