Three people are dead and three people have been seriously injured in a four wheel drive that crashed into a tree near Dargaville - taking the Queen's birthday holiday road death toll to 11.

Fire crews are working to cut two of the dead people out of the wreckage.

The crash happened at 6.45pm.

The Westpac Rescue Helicopter and the Northland Emergency Services Trust have been despatched to the scene on Baylys Coast Rd.

The eleven deaths make it the deadliest Queen's Birthday Weekend on the roads in 27 years.

Ten people were killed in 2009 and 1996, while there were 13 fatalities in 1989.

The toll period ends at 6 in the morning.