Teen cut from crashed car

Car crashes into power pole on Oxford Street, Masterton. The roof had to be cut off the Toyota Caldina GT-Four.

A teenage boy screamed in agony as he was cut from a wrecked car after it ploughed head-on into a power pole in Lansdowne early yesterday morning.

The 16-year-old driver, from Masterton, crashed into the concrete pole on Oxford St at 4am, after coming around a corner heading east.

He was admitted to Wairarapa Hospital, where he was described later as having suffered minor injuries and was in a stable condition.

Two girls, aged 13 and 16, were passengers in the silver Toyota Caldina GT-Four, and were checked over at Wairarapa Hospital but not admitted.

A man who asked not to be named and who lived opposite the crash site said he had "just gone to the toilet and hopped back into bed" when he heard a loud bang.

"The horn was just going -- it didn't stop," he said. "I jumped out of bed and the girl was standing on the side of the road on the phone to the ambulance and there was another young girl sitting in the back seat with her feet out the car.

"The guy was trapped in the front. He had his knees trapped underneath the dash. The women asked me to see if he was alive and he was slumped over his steering wheel.

"I don't know if he had been knocked out but he wasn't moving until I got closer and he started to twitch and I thought he's okay.

"He said to me can you get me out, can you get me out and I said no I can't -- he was wedged in there. That's when two ambulances, police cars and a fire engine all arrived."

Masterton Fire Service station officer Mike Cornford said it took the fire crew about 30 to 40 minutes to free the driver from the car.

"We had to use extrication equipment to disentangle him," he said. "We had to remove doors and the roof so the ambulance could stabilise him before we could actually remove him from the vehicle."

The neighbour said according to the screams the driver "must have been in agony". He said the early wake-up call had been "nothing unusual" as he had witnessed numerous crashes at the same spot.

"It's about the third time they have had to replace the power pole."

Times-Age reporter Gerald Ford, who lives in a neighbouring property to the incident, said he heard screaming and saw flashing lights through his bedroom curtains.

"Emergency services arrived within a few minutes and they were there for close to an hour at least," he said. "The power pole next to it broke in another early morning crash maybe a year or so ago so people do take that corner too fast."

Senior Sergeant Mike Sutton said police were still investigating the case.

He said a blood sample had been taken at the hospital to determine whether alcohol had been a factor in the crash and the driver would likely be referred to Youth Aid.

The power was cut to 37 properties after the car struck the pole. Powerco network operations manager Phil Marsh said yesterday afternoon that contractors were replacing the damaged pole.

Supply had been restored to the properties by 1pm.