A grandmother says a motorcycle gang's disruption of an Anzac Day Dawn Service was "despicable" and shocked the hundreds of people who were paying their respects.
Merna Brotherston said members of the Rebels Motorcycle Gang turned up to the service at Waiouru in the central North Island this morning and revved the noisy engines of their motorbikes while a bugler played the Last Post.
Mrs Brotherston was attending the service with her daughter and two grandsons and was horrified that the service was disrupted by the bikies.
"It was really disgusting because there were lots of families there, people turned out with babies in prams and everything," she said.
Mrs Brotherston said the noise from the motorbikes was very loud and disruptive.
"The din was horrendous, then they drove off and it was just despicable -- what a lack of respect."
The crowd of people attending the service were "shocked", Mrs Brotherston said, but the Defence Force personnel at the event did not react to the disturbance.
Mrs Brotherston was emotional speaking of the significance of the commemorations.
"I got quite weepy, thinking as a mother, of your boys ... and then they [Rebels] do that ... how could these people do that?"
Her daughter Andi Brotherston tweeted photos of the incident, showing patched gang members at the service, and said: "Perhaps the most disrespectful moment in the history of #AnzacDay."
She also captured the incident on video.
By Sophie Ryan of NZME. News Service
