Investigations are underway into an incident at Tauranga Hospital over the weekend.

The Bay of Plenty District Health Board say a 'minor incident took place in our car park which the police were called to”.

However, Tauranga MP Simon Bridges argues that the incident was not minor.

In a post on Twitter, Bridges says he was visiting his elderly father at Tauranga Hospital when he saw patched gang members taking over the entrance.

He says someone was being badly beaten in the car park in a gang fight.

The DHB have responded by saying the incident was not major, and that it was quickly resolved.

'We are not aware of any situation where gang members allegedly took over the hospital reception area and so far no staff on duty, including our security team who are based at the hospital entrance, have been able to validate this,” says a spokesperson for the DHB.

'However, we have instigated an investigation and would ask any members of the public who may have witnessed the reported incidents to please contact us and let us know what they observed by email to: [email protected]

'Meanwhile, we can assure the public that our security team will be maintaining presence at the hospital entrance as normal.”