People who are planning on visiting Christchurch in the coming week are being advised to put off their travel plans unless it is essential they visit the earthquake-hit area.

There is a significant amount of infrastructure damage in and around Christchurch caused by the earthquake which struck early in the morning of Saturday 4 September.

The central city area is particularly hard hit and has been cordoned off from public access.

Public buildings in the affected parts of Canterbury are also closed for access until 9am on Wednesday morning unless they have been declared safe by an engineer. All schools in Christchurch, Selwyn district and Kaiapoi have been closed for two days under the Civil Defence Act 2002.

Bus services are not operating on Monday September 6 as a result of the significant amount of damage to roads and the central city. A decision on whether buses will operate on Tuesday will be made on Monday following a further assessment of the infrastructure damage.