About 350 children from Paremata Primary School in Porirua have been evacuated after a gas leak.
Contractors ruptured a gas main at a Mobil Station on the corner of SH1 and Paremata Rd.
Fire and emergency services are in attendance, Inspector Turepu Keenan said.
The children were taken to theRoyal NZ Police College where they were given morning tea.
"We have not had reports of anyone affected by the gas, but when there's children involved, you don't take chances,'" Mr Keenan said.
Traffic on SH1 will be affected in both directions for up to three hours, police said. Diversions were in place around the scene but were being lifted mid-morning.
