Oil tanker crashes on Haast Pass Highway

An oil tanker has crashed on SH6. Photograph / NZME

Police are advising motorists to avoid the Haast Pass Highway on the West Coast as the clean-up of a fuel tanker crash is expected to take most of the day.

The oil tanker crashed on SH6, the Haast Pass Highway, in Mount Aspiring National Park.

Emergency services were notified at 7.53am that a truck, which was heading to Wanaka, had rolled and was blocking the road, between Haast Pass-Makaroa Rd and Marks Rd.

"Initial reports from the scene are that there are no injuries and the fuel within the tanker is contained," said a police spokesman.

"A salvage team has been sent to the scene to right the unit, which is half in a ditch and half on the road."

Police say traffic disruption is expected.

A Fire Service spokesman said emergency services at the scene were trying to disconnect the truck from the trailer unit, the Otago Daily Times reports.

The fuel would then be decanted from the trailer and the vehicle righted.

It was believed the road had reopened to one lane, but the work to right the truck and trailer was expected to take much of the day, the police spokeswoman told the ODT.

The Commercial Vehicle Investigation Unit has been informed and will investigate the cause of the crash.