A lunch time accident saw an elderly man cut free from his vehicle and two cars towed away in Hastings.
The accident occurred at 1.20pm shutting down the intersection of Eastbourne and Warren Streets this afternoon for half an hour.
According to an eyewitness the man was man travelling towards Havelock when his white Mitsubishi Lancer was "t-boned" by a silver Mitsubishi Colt driven by a female driver, which trapped the male driver in his car.
Emergency services were quick to react with two police cars, two emergency management trucks, two fire appliances, an ambulance and several of the Hastings District Council's City Assist personnel attending the scene.
The eyewitness was travelling behind the man at the time when the female driver "cleaned him up".
"The lady went through the intersection and just smashed into the side of his car," he said.
"She didn't stop and she t-boned him."
Police were on the scene almost immediately, closely followed by City Assist staff who helped out clearing the shattered glass off the road and directing traffic.
When fire crew arrived the set to work cutting him free of his vehicle before he was helped by emergency medical officers to the waiting ambulance.
Police took statements from both the woman involved in the accident and eyewitnesses to the crash.
As the scene cleared the Serious Crash Recovery Unit towed both vehicles away.