UPDATED 5.42pm:  Whanganui police have arrested a 61-year-old man in relation to a hit and run early this morning.

A 24 year-old man is in a critical condition in Wellington Hospital following the incident on Anzac Parade.

He was initially taken to Whanganui Hospital with serious head injuries but was airlifted to Wellington Hospital.

Police officers were called to the area over a report of about a dozen people fighting, but it's not yet clear whether the brawl and the crash are connected.

Police are no longer seeking the car or anyone else in relation to the incident but the investigation is ongoing, and charges have yet to be laid.