Five young people spent the night on the roof or in its cavity at a youth justice facility in Auckland.

The standoff began on Saturday at Korowai Manaaki Youth Justice Residence in Wiri.

On Sunday morning, Oranga Tamariki deputy chief executive Mike Bush said the five people spent the night on the roof or within its cavity.

"We will provide a further [update] when the matter changes."

Police and Fire and Emergency were called to assist with the standoff which saw six people on the roof as of 9pm last night.

On Saturday, Bush said he was on site and staff were dealing with the incident.

"Our priority is the safety of these young people and we are managing this situation with extreme caution, especially with the wet weather forecast overnight.

"We are practising safe and reasonable negotiation tactics and working to deescalate the situation.

"The young people are within the boundary of the facility and there is no risk to public safety."

Stuff reported the youths were armed with pipes and bits of metal.

It comes a week after several youth escaped from a youth justice facility in Canterbury and spent the night in its roof cavity.

This story was originally published by Radio New Zealand Youth spend the night on roof of Auckland justice facility | RNZ News