Police appeal after hit-and-run death

File photo / APN

Manukau Police are investigating a hit and run which killed a 40-year-old man just after midnight today.

The man wandered onto Helvetia Road in Pukekohe, South Auckland, when he was hit by a car, police said. The vehicle immediately left the scene.

Police said there was no description of the vehicle, which possibly had some frontal damage caused by the impact with the pedestrian.

They appealed for any witnesses to come forward. The pedestrian was the second fatality of the official holiday period - one more than at the same time last year.

A 44-year-old woman died in a crash near Dunedin last night.

The woman's car crashed into a power pole on Bush road in Mosgiel, which is 15 kilometres from Dunedin, about 9.30pm, Senior Sergeant Mel Aitken said.

The victim was the sole occupant of the vehicle and police were unaware what caused the woman to crash on a straight piece of road.

Police wanted to speak to the occupants of a blue vehicle with a "big bore exhaust", which may have passed the accident scene without stopping to help, she said.

The official holiday road toll runs from 4pm on Friday 24 December 2010 until 6am Wednesday 5 January 2011. Last year 13 people lost their lives on the roads during the holiday period.

- NZPA