Handsaw used to free trapped man

A young man is lucky to be alive after he ended up "entangled in trees and shrubs'' after a car accident in Katikati last night.

The car lost control as it went around a corner and ended up in a garden in the front yard of a house.

The young man was trapped inside the vehicle and was removed by emergency services before he was taken to Tauranga Hospital late last night.

Police, firefighters and St John attended the accident, which happened on Park Rd in Katikati, just after 10pm.

Katikati Volunteer Fire Brigade fire chief Joe Manukau lives across the road from where the accident happened, and ventured outside when he heard "an almighty crash''.

"He was going round a corner, probably going too fast, almost hit a power pole and ended up in the middle of a garden. He was one metre away from the power pole,'' Mr Manukau said.

"He was entangled in trees and shrubs, tangled in the garden."

"He's very lucky. He was impaled around the shrubs and his arms were entangled in side.''

Mr Manukau said there were skid marks at the scene.

He did not know the extent of the young man's injuries and used a hand-saw to help remove him from the car.

He did not believe the young man was the driver of the car, as he wasn't sitting in the driver's seat.

"There could have been others involved ... and I got out there pretty quickly and there was no one else around.''

Mr Manukau said there had been at least four accidents on that corner in the past 10 years.