Invercargill Mayor Tim Shadbolt on viral scooter video: 'I was just going to the shop'

Invercargill Mayor Tim Shadbolt has been snapped popping to the shops on a push scooter, the favoured mode of transport for primary school students around the country.

In a video posted to the Facebook page "Only in New Zealand" the slightly eccentric mayor can be seen through a resident's window cruising down a suburban street.

The video caption claims Shadbolt is going to work, but the Mayor told the Herald he was off to the dairy for some milk.

"I was just going to the shop."

Shadbolt said the scooter was his, bought after his 4-year-old got a scooter last Christmas and he found he couldn't keep up.

The eight-second video has been viewed nearly 140,000 times since it was posted last night and more than 10,000 people have liked it.

The mayor, who is in his eighth term, said he didn't usually pay attention to Facebook and only found out about the video's success this morning when a member of the public told him.

"I did a bit of online stuff for the campaign [and] I was lucky to get 100 hits talking about council policy.

"Then I go to the shops to get some milk and I get 120,000 or something."

He said he did not travel by scooter to work to save ratepayers money, as some commenting on the video had speculated.

"I'm not quite that noble I'm afraid. Sorry to disappoint."

Hundreds of people have commented on the video, many commenting on what a "legend" Shadbolt was.

"Good on you Shaddy. The only Down to earth mayor in New Zealand. You gotta be proud of him," one person said.

"Feel proud that I voted for this man," said another.

One person commented referencing New Zealand's best-known scooter-related celebrity, the ''nek minute'' guy Levi Hawkin.

Hawkin is also from down south, in Dunedin.

"Took my scooter to the dairy nek minute," they wrote below the video.