Papamoa resident Tin Goile could not believe what she was seeing when the footpath in front of her house started rising up off the ground.

Tin Goile next to broken footpath outside her home on Motiti Road in Papamoa East.

She was inside her lounge on Wednesday afternoon when she heard a loud bang, looked out the window and saw the concrete rising into the air.

'It was very loud. I thought someone had hit my car.”

Tauranga City Council says the footpath ‘popping' near Tin's house on Motiti Road is caused by heat.

Council communications advisor for city transportation, Meagan Holmes, says about five footpaths have popped at various locations around Tauranga.

According to council experts, the concrete breaks when it reaches high temperatures.

The footpath contracts and recedes, similar to metal.

When the concrete gets too hot, it has to release the energy and that causes the popping.

Tin thought something was happening under ground when she saw the unusual occurrence.

'I was really worried. I thought ‘what's going on here?'

Meagan says the occurrence is not common in the region, but does happen occasionally.

'They have been marked so that people can see them.”

'We want to reduce any chance of people tripping on them and they will be fixed as soon as we possibly can.”

Council will try to have the footpaths repaired early in the new year. Meagan is unsure how much the repairs will cost.