Truck tips near Oamaru, spilling produce

A digger loads fruit and vegetables lost by a truck that crashed on State Highway 1 near Hampden yesterday morning. Photo: Jody Robinson

About 200 properties south of Oamaru were left without power, some for up to six hours, after a truck and trailer unit carrying fresh produce crashed on State Highway 1 north of Hampden shortly after midnight yesterday.

Police were alerted to the scene near the intersection of the highway and Mile Flat Rd about 12.20am.

Senior Constable Wayne Brew, of Hampden, said the truck went out of control and its trailer flipped, spilling its load of fruit and vegetables into a ditch alongside the highway.

The truck hit a power pole in the crash, cutting power to about 200 homes.

The driver was not injured and no other vehicles were involved.

The highway was closed for a short time so a small amount of debris could be cleared.

A digger was at the scene early yesterday loading the spilled produce into a truck and trailer unit.

The accident happened outside the property of Jody Robinson, who initially thought the crash was minor.

''I just heard a huge bang. I looked out through the curtain and I thought 'this doesn't look too bad', then I thought I might go and check. I saw it and said 'what's this?'. The whole place was covered in crates and vegetables and fruit.''

It was not the first time an accident had happened near her property, she said.

''It's actually a really bad piece of road.''

Network Waitaki chief operating officer Matthew Hawtin said 170 properties were without electricity for about 30 minutes as a result of the crash.

Snr Const Brew said investigations into the cause of the crash were continuing.

daniel.birchfield@odt.co.nz