Man dies after Te Mata Peak car accident

A man has died after a car plunged down a steep gully on Te Mata Peak in Havelock North.

A member of the public alerted emergency services when they saw the car upside down in the gully near the top of Te Mata Peak Rd just after 10am today.  It is not known when or how the car crashed.

The driver of the car has not yet been identified.  He was the only person in the vehicle.

St John Hawke's Bay district operations manager Stephen Smith confirmed the man's death earlier.

"All we can say at the moment is a car that has gone off the road up there and we can confirm that ambulance staff, fire and police have attended," he said.

The Police Serious Crash Unit is investigating.

Te Mata Peak Rd will be closed for some time while the vehicle is retrieved from the gully.

In November, a man survived a 200m plunge in a vehicle on the eastern side of Te Mata Peak.