The blaze is contained but continues to burn along the railway line by Wainui South Road, Whakamarama.

"Traffic levels have returned to normal." Earlier, motorists experienced significant delays of up to two hours on SH2 due to a scrub fire which was attended by multiple fire emergency crews.

An alternative route involved driving via SH29 over the Kaimai Range then SH27 and SH26 before rejoining SH2. Police said initial reports were received around 1.50pm. The fire was reported to be ...