Today Police together with New Zealand Defence Force are assisting with the conditional re-entry of residents in Pigeon Valley.

Conditional re-entry started at 8am this morning for residents at the south end of Pigeon Valley Road and Pigeon Valley South Branch Road.

This is conditional re-entry for residents only and we ask that members of the public who do not have a genuine reason to be in the area to please stay out.

Police will maintain a cordon at the intersection of Pigeon Valley Road and SH6 through until 4pm to allow for the orderly return of residents.

We ask everyone returning to their homes in Pigeon Valley to please not be complacent you are returning to an area that is now in a state of Be Prepared to Evacuate.

This state of Be Prepared to Evacuate means that at any time until further notice, you may need to re evacuate your property under urgency.

Police staff will also be at each of the restricted entry points and mobile on the roads in all of the evacuated areas to assist with the restricted entry process.

Police staff undertook continued patrolling in the wider Wakefield area overnight and there were no incidents of note or offences reported.

© Scoop Media