One seriously injured after crash

Updated 11.04:

One person was seriously injured and two others were also taken to Tauranga hospital after a crash on State Highway 2 near Te Puke Quarry Rd this morning.

St John Mount Maunganui operations team manager Gary Bishell said the Mount Maunganui ambulance took the 22-year-old driver of one of the vehicles to hospital with serious injuries.

Mr Bishell said he had arm and internal injuries after being trapped in the car for abou 40 minutes.

He said the impact was to the side of the man's vehicle and caused serious damage to the car.

The Mount Maunganui ambulance also transported the man's brother to hospital for a check-up. Mr Bishell said he was un-injured.

The Te Puke ambulance took the female driver of the other vehicle to hospital with minor injuries.

The crash was cleared and the road re-opened about 9am but traffic remained banked up for some time.

Earlier:

One person was trapped after a crash on State Highway 2 near Te Puke Quarry Rd.

Police Senior Sergeant Glenn Saunders said emergency services were called to the two car crash on the bridge near Te Puke Quarry Rd about 7.25am.

Western Bay of Plenty road policing manager Senior Sergeant Ian Campion said the trapped person was described as having serious injuries.

"A Tauranga-bound vehicle has crossed the centre line and collided head-on with an on coming car. The driver of the vehicle heading towards Te Puke is still trapped in the vehicle and fire are working to free him."

The road is closed and traffic is being diverted onto Manoeka Rd and Te Puke Quarry Rd.

Mr Campion said it is likely the highway will remain closed for some time.

He said there was a significant backlog of traffic which police were working to clear.

Fire, ambulance and police were in attendance.

The crash was cleared and the road re-opened about 9am but traffic is still backed up as far as Domain Rd.