One person is dead after trying to flee from police in Taranaki this morning.

Police had tried to pull the vehicle over about 12.30am for speeding.

But it rammed the patrol car, making it undriveable, and the chase was abandoned, TVNZ reported.

Three minutes later the fleeing car crashed into a power pole in Tarahua Rd, in the New Plymouth suburb of Vogeltown.

Power lines came down across the vehicle and the person died at the scene.

The Independent Police Conduct Authority is investigating.