Police have discovered human remains during a land search in the Central North Island.

Police have been carrying out the search since the beginning of this week.

A team of officers have been searching an area around Rangipo Intake Road, off Desert Road in the central North Island, after police received information which led them to have grave fears for a person.

Police at the scene have this morning uncovered human remains buried at a site off Rangipo Intake Road, says a police spokesperson.

"The remains appear to have been in place for a period of time.

"A scene guard is present and the process for getting the remains ready to remove off-site is not expected to be completed until tomorrow."

A post mortem will then take place and it is expected to take some time before the formal identification process is completed.

"Until the remains have been formally identified, Police will not be speculating on the possible identity of the deceased."