DRIVE THROUGH: A taxi ploughs into a Wellington McDonald's this morning, seriously injuring a customer.

Debris covering a trapped McDonald's customer had to be removed by the Fire Service, after a taxi ploughed through the store in Wellington early this morning.

The taxi, operated by Amalgamated Taxis, crashed into the dining area of the Taranaki Street McDonald's about 2.20am.

Fire communications shift manager Jason Phillips said ambulance staff called for assistance shortly after the accident.

"No one was trapped but they wanted us to remove debris from the shop so they had better access to theinjured man.''

It took the fire services 14 minutes to remove the debris, including parts of the shop frontage and the counter, and help lift the man onto the ambulance, Mr Phillips said.

Senior Sergeant Anita Dixon said the trapped man was a customer.

''What I was told...was a customer in McDonalds standing at the counter ...has been knocked over behind the counter and the counter has collapsed on top of him.''

A 43-year-old man inside the restaurant was seriously injured, but in a stable condition at Wellington Hospital.

He would undergo surgery this morning, hospital spokeswoman Raylene Bateman said.

Although the crash badly damaged the fast-food outlet, the mess was cleared up and the restaurant was open this morning, a McDonald's Taranaki Street employee said.

McDonald's spokeswoman Kate Porter said the company's first priority was the injured customer.

McDonald's was liaising with police to contact the injured man and have provided police with footage from the incident.

Staff were shocked and there was considerable damage, with a ''significant amount'' of broken glass, she said.

Ms Dixon said the incident would be investigated but appeared to just be a traffic incident.

''There's no criminal side to it...The taxi driver made a boo boo. It may be a guy's charged with careless driving...I'm not sure.''