Watch police winch car out of Birkenhead water

A couple managed to escape as their parked car rolled off a wharf and into the water on the North Shore last night.

The pair had parked by Birkenhead Wharf, at the end of Hinemoa St, to go for a walk when their vehicle careered down a hill around 9pm and "went into the tide", Inspector Willie Taylor said.

It is believed the couple were in the car initially, but managed to get out before it went under.

Mr Taylor said the pair were not badly injured, "just embarrassed".

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Although it was not immediately clear what caused the car to roll down the hill, Mr Taylor said it was the "chief suspicion" that the hand brake was left off.

Ambulance attended the scene and assessed two patients for minor injuries, but did not transport them to hospital, St John spokeswoman Olive Taylor said.

In February, two police officers dragged a woman from her sinking vehicle at the nearby Fishermans Wharf at Northcote Point. Constables Paul Watts and Simon Russell and two members of the public were commended by the country's top police officers after their rescue efforts, which involved running into the water, smashing the car's back window with a rock and pulling the woman to safety.