Road spikes stop fleeing driver, tanker spills 15,000l of milk

Police dogs chased and caught a driver who fled when his car was stopped by road spikes in the west Auckland suburb of Glen Eden early today.

Police said the driver refused to stop at 1.45am on West Coast Road and was chased.

They said the driver did not know police were also at another incident further up the road and the pursuit was short-lived when the driver ran over road spikes.

The vehicle stopped after a short distance and the driver eluded police briefly before being tracked and caught by a police dog.

Further north of Auckland a truck fire stopped all traffic on State Highway 1 at Waiwera at 5.30am.

The truck was reported to have been burning fiercely at the back and the road was closed as firefighters put the blaze out.

The road was reopened to traffic about 90 minutes later.

Earlier a milk tanker spilled 15,000 litres of milk when it ruptured on Kereone Road at Morrinsville about 4am.

A water tanker was called to flush away the milk but police said traffic was light and disruption was minimal.

- NZPA