Tauranga residents were woken by the sound of a police helicopter this morning

The Eagle police helicopter in the day time. Photo / File

Tauranga residents were woken up by a helicopter instead of an alarm clock this morning, and a bit too early for some.

Residents took to a social media page, curious about the noise to find other residents had been woken up too.

The noise was the police helicopter, the Eagle, which was searching for an elderly person.

A police media spokesman said the person was found shortly after the search began, at 4.30am, safe and well.

Ōtumoetai resident Callum Nicholson was woken up just before 4am and went outside 15 minutes later to see what was happening.

"Now that I know they were searching for someone missing out in the cold it was worth the small inconvenience," he said.

"I was just glad they were found safe."

He said he could see the helicopter in the Bellevue, Matua area, about 2km from where he was.