Three crashes in same spot at same time in Tauranga

One car suffered serious damage to its rear.

A petrol tanker was involved in one of three crashes in the same spot in Tauranga today.

The three nose-to-tail crashes all happened on State Highway 29A, between Maungatapu roundabout and Baypark at Te Maunga about 9.30am.

The vehicles involved are now parked to the side of the highway, near the Maungatapu off-ramp.

One of the cars, which had been towing a trailer of timber, had significant damage to its rear.

A long line of traffic is now stopped on the side of the highway, including the vehicles and tanker involved.

Police said they were called to a nose-to-tail crash when curious passersby caused two more crashes.

The crashes come about an hour after a nose-to-tail crash on SH2 on Tauranga Harbour Bridge this morning.

The crash happened about 8.20am on the Mt Maunganui side of the bridge and appeared to involve two utes, a car and a truck.