Man in court after woman held hostage

File photo / Greg Bowker

A Rotorua man, 27, will appear in the Hawera District Court today after a woman was held hostage and severely beaten in Stratford, near New Plymouth on Sunday evening.

The woman needed hospital treatment after being held captive for up to four hours in a cabin at a local camp ground.

She was able to escape and alert neighbours.

The offender had left by the time police arrived.

The Taranaki Daily News reported a suspect was found an hour later and was then involved in two high-speed chases, one causing damage to a police car, before crashing his car.

An investigation into the police pursuit is under way.

- NZPA