Power back on in Whanganui East following crash

A car crashed into a power pole on Eastown Rd this morning causing mass power outages in the area. Photo / Bevan Conley

Power has been restored to the more than 600 Whanganui East homes that were cut off after a car crashed into a power pole on Monday morning.

The crash happened on Eastown Rd with power cut to 685 homes.

A spokeswoman for Powerco said 450 had power restored within 25 minutes. The remaining had power restored just before 11.30am after the pole was replaced and the lines restrung.

Police were notified of the single-vehicle crash at around 5.52am.

The occupant of the vehicle left the scene so it was unclear if they were injured. Police are making inquiries to locate them.

Eva de Jong is a reporter for the Whanganui Chronicle covering health stories and general news. She began as a reporter in 2023.