A sign near the Trig Walkway outside Levin sends a clear message during the level four coronavirus lockdown.

A person not staying home during level four coronavirus lockdown has rolled their vehicle on Foxton Beach, leading to an ambulance getting stuck in sand.

The incident was just the tip of the iceberg in wider Manawatū, as dozens of people flouted official advice to stay close to home.



Fire and Emergency New Zealand, police and St John Ambulance attended the incident about 3.30pm on Saturday.

ALDEN WILLIAMS/STUFF Police stopped motorists in Amberley, North Canterbury, on Easter Friday morning.

The vehicle rolled on to its side near the Manawatū River mouth. St John staff tried to get there via the river mouth entrance to the beach, but got their ambulance stuck in the sand.

READ MORE:

* Let's not end lockdown early

* Why the government needs to ban power tools and loud DIY during covid-19 lockdown

* Coronavirus: Police turning back holidaymakers trying to breach lockdown rules

WARWICK SMITH/STUFF A St John ambulance was stuck in sand at Foxton Beach while attending an accident on Saturday.

Volunteers from the Foxton Beach fire brigade took four-wheel-drive vehicles instead of their large truck, while the ambulance crew resorted to using pieces of driftwood to try to get their vehicle out of the sand.

No-one appeared seriously injured at the scene. A police spokesman said officers were making inquires about the cause of the crash.

The incident came shortly after police officers at Foxton Beach told Stuff most people had been behaving themselves in the small community.

Some did not get Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's pre-holiday message to stay home, though, with police stopping someone heading to the river with a motorbike on the back of their ute.

People in Levin also had a flexible definition of home, with many driving more than 2½ kilometres along Queen St East and Denton Rd from the town's edge to park at the base of the Trig Walkway – a hike up a steep hill through a forestry block.

WARWICK SMITH/STUFF Police talk to people at the scene of the Foxton beach crash.

The drive is further than the one Health Minister David Clark was chastised for to go for a mountainbike ride.

Someone put a homemade sign up near Trig earlier in the week that said: "If you drove here you are not from our neighbourhood. Please go home and exercise there."

The sign was missing on Saturday, as Stuff saw vehicles pull up with families, people with dogs and teens on mountain bikes getting out to head up the hill.

It was not any better at the popular Manawatū Gorge walking track near Ashhurst, a village on the outskirts of Palmerston North.

Vehicles were in the car park, where people often leave their cars before doing a loop track in the nearby Department of Conservation reserve.

Ged Blackbourn, who lives nearby, said he had seen the car park full at times.

Police had occasionally visited to drive people away, but it quickly filled up again, he said.