A man got the fright of his life when the roadside rubbish sweeper he was driving burst into flames.
The man was sweeping rubbish on Maunganui Road in the town centre in Mount Maunganui.
Fire fighter Roger Pickett was one of those who responded to the incident.

Fire fighters at the scene shortly after a roadside rubbish sweeper burst into flames in Mount Maunganui's town centre.

He says the man was driving along the road when the sweeper suddenly stopped and could not be restarted.
"A red light came on and the machine just cut out. He thought it had just broken down," says Roger.
When the man went to get help, and was only a few metres away from the vehicle, it burst into smoke and flames.
Roger says fire fighters arrived at the scene shortly after at about 7.30am on Thursday morning.
"It was really starting to get cracking when we got there."
He says there was a lot of smoke and flames about one metre high.
The fire burn a hole in the sweeper's side but Roger believes the machine is salvageable.
He suspects an electrical fault caused the fire.