A Haast local's invited government Ministers to his community for some whitebait patties and a cuppa, to talk about their lack of cellphone reception.

A 244-kilometre stretch in the lower West Coast District is a black spot for coverage.

Local motelier and St John volunteer Blair Farmer told Chris Lynch it's life and death when there's a car crash and people can't call 111.

He said it's also hurting the town's tourism take - as visitors look at their blank phones and cruise on out of the district.

Farmer says they can't wait until 2022 for reception - they need it today.

"We're 2018 now and you pinch yourself and wonder 'is it really?' It's like we're locked into the bloody eighties here with neglect from central government."

READ MORE: West Coast town demands cellphone service

Farmer has witnessed first hand the devastating effects of having no phone service.

As one of a handful of St John volunteers in Haast, Farmer was on the scene after Taiwanese tourist Yi-Chieh Feng had been flung from the rental campervan when the driver lost control and crashed into a bank.

The driver couldn't call 111. There was no reception. So, instead of waiting for help to come past, he bundled her back into the van and drove for 30 minutes into Haast to get help.

Farmer tried to save Feng but she died from her injuries.

"I was doing CPR and I could feel it was all mushy inside," Farmer told the New Zealand Herald.

"No one was home. She died on the floor of the information centre."

People passing through the area can drive for three hours straight without getting reception. It means that help isn't easy to access if you have an accident, yet hundreds of thousands of motorists drive the Haast Pass route every year.

"To say that positive patient outcomes are severely compromised is an understatement," Farmer said.

"And accidents are happening more and more often.

"There's going to be a big bus crash one day - it's not if, it's when. And the resulting embarrassing national and international harm will be no good."

- with content from NZ Herald