Hurt and lost - Search for crashed driver

A distraught woman had to use her cellphone to guide emergency services to her after she crashed her ute into trees near Tai Tapu.

A Fire Service spokesman said the woman, aged in her late teens, crashed her Toyota Hilux ute on Taitapu Rd, near the Tai Tapu Golf Club about 2am on Friday.

The woman told Fire Service communications that she had no idea where she was and couldn't remember what had happened.

In an attempt to find her, three police cars and four fire engines from Lincoln and Rolleston, drove around the area with their sirens on for about 25 minutes.

"We kept talking to her while everyone was searching, hoping she would hear a siren and be able to point us in the right direction to narrow down her location.

"She was distraught and crying on the phone. All she told us was that she had crashed her car on a road near Lincoln," the Fire Service spokesman said.

A police patrol car found the woman about 2.40am.

Lincoln Volunteer Fire Brigade chief fire officer Kevin Greene said crews had to remove the roof and driver's door of the ute, to free the woman, who had suffered serious injuries, including a broken leg.

The Selwyn Times understands the woman, who is a shift worker, was travelling home from Christchurch to Lincoln when she crashed. She was taken to Christchurch Hospital by ambulance.