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A swamp-dwelling taniwha has forced workers to stop construction on part of a controversial highway project in the upper North Island.
Work on a section of the new highway between Mercer and Long Swamp, dubbed the "Waikato Expressway", has been put on hold after local Maori said they believe there is a taniwha in the way.
Local Maori claim the taniwha - or guardian spirit - is lurking somewhere in swampland near Meremere.
"I have an 86-year-old woman who has actually told me that this exact place is one where a taniwha is," says iwi representative Brenda Maxwell.
"The taniwha has spiritual and cultural meaning to Maori."
When Transit New Zealand was told of local iwi's concerns it immediately ordered workers off the area where the taniwha is believed to be.
Work to improve the highway began because of a high rate of fatal and head-on crashes.
Maxwell believes the crashes are connected with the taniwha.
"Maori believe that there is a reason for the deaths in this area," she says.
The new highway has been controversial since its conception.
It was originally costed at $56 million but because the land it was built on was sinking exceeded its budget by $20 million.
The task of filling the swamp was put on hold for a year while authorities waited for extra funding to be approved.
The swamp filling resumed just two weeks before the taniwha's appearance.
Transit New Zealand will not be interviewed but says it issued the stopwork order out of respect for Maori culture
A meeting is scheduled between roading authorities and local Maori to decide what happens next.
