A man had been taken to hospital in a serious condition after he ran into Tauranga Harbour, allegedly in an attempt to evade police.

Western Bay of Plenty Police area commander Inspector Clifford Paxton says in a statement police saw a person of interest driving on Devonport Rd around 10.30am and signalled for him to stop.

Once the vehicle had pulled over, he says police arrested a 36-year-old - and allegedly suspended - driver but he was able to flee on foot.

“Police followed the man … and [he] eventually entered the water at Tauranga Harbour, off The Strand.”

Clifford says a member of the public provided the man with a life jacket and he stayed afloat until police search-and-rescue and Coastguard Tauranga volunteers helped him out of the water.

He says the man was in custody and charges were being considered, police says.

A Hato Hone St John spokesman says an ambulance and rapid response unit were sent to Fraser St around 10.45am and one person was taken to Tauranga Hospital in a serious condition.

Police at Memorial Park pulled a man out of a Coastguard rescue boat at 11:45am. Photo supplied.

A Bay of Plenty Times reporter at the scene says police and Coastguard had retrieved a man from the water in Tauranga Harbour near Memorial Park.

The man could be heard moaning as the boat approached the shoreline.

At 11.45am, two police officers pulled the man from the boat and took him to a waiting ambulance.

A witness says the Coastguard and a kayak had been helping the man in the harbour for 40 minutes.

-Bay of Plenty Times