Two drivers have lucky escape after Otane crash

The truck broke an axle on impact and ended up across the road in a ditch.

A trailer being towed by a car was hit by a southbound truck and trailer at the intersection of State Highway 2 and Higginson St, Otane, on Tuesday morning.

Police say the car pulled out of Higginson St onto the main highway into the path of the southbound truck, which missed the car but hit the tandem trailer it was towing. The truck and trailer unit broke a front axle on impact and veered across the road, narrowly avoiding an oncoming truck and ending up in a roadside ditch.

Senior Constable Andy Walker said no one was injured and both drivers were extremely lucky, though shaken.

One lane of the highway was closed because of the debris.

Police are also asking for information after a headstone at Waipawa Cemetery was smashed and defaced last Thursday night or Friday morning.

Part of the three-piece headstone was smashed off and deep gouges cut into the granite of all three elements. The vandals also dug a hole in the surface of the gravesite, dropping a ceramic ornament from the grave into the hole.

No other headstones or gravesites were damaged.

Senior Constable Walker said the damage "would have taken considerable force" and the piece broken off the headstone is missing.

"We would appreciate any information on the whereabouts of the broken piece of headstone, or who may have been responsible."

Anyone with information can phone the Police non-emergency number, freephone 105, or call in to the Waipukurau Community Hub on Northumberland St.