A Plimmerton resident has been taken to Hutt Hospital after fire destroyed a house.

The Fire Service was alerted to the blaze just after 9pm and found the fire well underway when crews from Plimmerton and Porirua arrived. The house was severely damaged.

Fire Safety officers and police are investigating the cause of the blaze.

Meanwhile Lower Hutt firefighters were called to extinguish two large scrub fires on the eastern hills last night. The first was just after 9pm on the hill behind Waddington Drive in Naenae. The second was just before 11pm in bush behind Taita cemetery.