Firefighters free trapped driver after car hits tree on Auckland's Tamaki Drive

Emergency services help the injured driver of a vehicle that crashed into a tree on Auckland's Tamaki Drive. Photo / Michael Craig

Firefighters have cut apart a vehicle to free a man after he crashed into a tree on Auckland's Tamaki Drive.

Witnesses said eight police cars, two fire trucks and an ambulance were at the scene, with one lane of the busy waterfront road closed just east of the port.

Police Senior Sergeant Matt Rogers said the accident happened about 11am.

It appeared the driver of the Daihatsu Terios SUV had suffered a medical event which led to him going off the road and hitting a pohutukawa tree, Rogers said.

Part of the right side of the crashed vehicle was chopped off to allow the man to be removed.

Firefighters cut out the right side of the crased vehicle on Auckland's Tamaki Drive to enable the removal of the injured driver. Photo / Michael Craig.

Witnesses said the car, which hit a pohutukawa tree, was "pretty mangled".

Police said there were two people in the car.

The driver was taken to Auckland City Hospital.

Staff of the Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust were first to the scene of the accident, which happened only 100m from the service's base at Mechanics Bay. A member of the public had knocked on the door to tell of the crash.

A pilot and an intensive care paramedic took emergency gear in the trust's rapid response vehicle.

"An elderly woman ... was able to self-extricate from the vehicle and [had] suffered multiple injuries. In a moderate condition, she was passed into the care of St John," said the trust's communication manager Lincoln Davies.

"The gentleman, in his 80s, was unable to self-extricate himself from the vehicle and needed to be cut out ... He also suffered multiple injuries but was in a serious condition."