South Taranaki Mayor Ross Dunlop will be getting around in his dirty farm ute for a while after his mayoral car was "totally trashed" in an accident.
It was parked outside a car dealership in Hawera while Mr Dunlop was at a function on Wednesday night.
Just before 9pm there was a "huge bang" as a driver on High St hit a parked car, shunting it into three others.
When Mr Dunlop got outside he found the mayoral Ford Falcon had been pushed into the car yard.
"It was carnage," he told the Taranaki Daily News.
Tower Ford dealer principal Gordon Harrop said a small truck, a ute, the mayor's car and a car sitting in the yard had been hit and the driver of a damaged Skyline was running around swearing.
"It was a shemozzle, I tell you." Hawera police spokeswoman Sally Doherty said a 22-year-old Hawera man was arrested.
He would appear in Hawera District Court on July 14 charged with driving while disqualified.
Further charges may be laid when blood test results are available.
