A man is dead after the car he was in crashed in the Canterbury town of Leeston, before he was then hit by another vehicle.

Police say a car carrying two people crashed into a ditch on Leeston Road at 11.30 last night on Leeston Road, Springston, near Goulds Road.

"Both occupants were able to get out of the vehicle,'' police said this morning.

"But one person was then struck by another vehicle travelling along the road. He died at the scene.''

The circumstances of the crash and the subsequent accident have not been fully released by authorities.

The Police Serious Crash Unit is now investigating.