Police on Auckland's North Shore are praising a bystander who helped rescue a woman from a vehicle sinking in the sea at Stanmore Bay on Thursday night.
Police say the woman drove her SUV into the water just before 10pm.
The vehicle floated about 40 metres out to sea before it began to sink.
A local resident, Stephen Bibby, used a fire extinguisher to smash the rear window of the vehicle and pulled the woman out with the help of a police officer.
Rodney police area commander Inspector Scott Webb says the woman would have drowned had it not been for the rescuers.
He says Mr Bibby helped prevent what could otherwise have been an absolute tragedy.
