Emergency services attend a scene where one person suffered critical injuries. Photo / Supplied
A driver is in critical condition in Christchurch hospital after crashing into a wooden power pole and snapping it in half.
The accident occurred on Tuesday afternoon in the Christchurch suburb of Bishopdale.
Two ambulances and two rapid response units attended the emergency together with two fire crews and three police cars.
St John said they were "called to the scene at 3.19 pm" and spent an hour treating the driver before they "took them to hospital at 4.13 pm".
Police said it "looks like a car had hit a power pole and several other vehicles" and that "one person sustained serious injuries during this incident".
The power pole was snapped off a metre above the ground, the top half of the pole left lying on the footpath.
It appeared that the black vehicle had hit two cars, one on Farrington Ave, swiping down the driver's side of the vehicle, and another vehicle 20m further down the road at the corner of Kelburn St before turning left and colliding with a power pole.
Fire and ambulance staff managed to get the driver out of the vehicle and treated the person for an hour behind a white tarpaulin and on the grass verge on the opposite side of the road, away from the downed power lines.
Motorists are being warned to expect hazardous driving conditions.