Two people are in hospital after being airlifted from a remote bush in the Bay of Plenty.

Two winch rescues were needed when vehicle rolled down a steep bank off Thompson's Track in the Kaimai Range on Tuesday.

Choppers from Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust and Philips Search and Rescue from Waikato were scrambled to the scene, which was described by one spokesperson as 'very remote”.

Shortly after landing, a four-wheel drive vehicle was discovered 30 metres down a bank.

Crew from the Westpac 3 chopper assisted a woman in her 20s, who needed to be winched from the scene.

She was flown to Middlemore Hospital in a critical condition.

A man in his 30s was also airlifted from the scene of the crash and taken to Waikato Hospital.

A Philips Search and Rescue spokesperson says the man suffered spinal injuries and was in a serious condition.

'There was absolutely no access via road,” they say, 'so crews had very few options.

'That's why we ended up carrying out two winch rescues.”

The rescues took place shortly before midday, on Tuesday, September 13.

Thompson's Track crosses the Kaimai Range between Manawaru and Katikati.

According to Matamata-Piako District Council, the track is used extensively by four-wheel drive vehicles as well as trampers, mountain bikers, hunters and horse riders.

A roading upgrade report in 2020 described the area as having 'high archaeological value”.

The report describes the track as 'a traditional pathway through the Kaimai Range connecting the foreshore of the Tauranga Harbour with inland bush and the Waikato, exiting at Manawaru near Te Aroha”.

-Dan Sheridan/Stuff.