Armed police have apprehended the man sought over the fatal shooting of two people at a Work and Income office this morning.

A witness to today's shooting tragedy in Ashburton said he saw a staff member from Work and Income run after the shooter yelling "You bastard, you've blown her to bits".

Suspect in shooting had said he wanted Winston Peters to investigate town's treatment of him.

Five fire appliances are battling a large blaze at an animal feed store in an industrial park in west Ashburton this morning.

A post-mortem will be carried out this morning on a man's body found in Ashburton.

'She's a brave wee girl', say police of an eight-year-old who was grabbed from her driveway and put in a car before she managed to escape.

Promising up and coming jockey Ashley Frye has been rushed to hospital following a fall during a race at the Ashburton Racecourse this afternoon.

An Ashburton fugitive caught after 10 days on the run appeared in court today on family violence charges.

Canterbury firefighters didn't get much sleep last night with six rural fire around Ashburton, four of which may be linked and are being treated as suspicious.

Firefighters are battling a large blaze at the Canterbury meatworks in Ashburton.

A fire in Ashburton gutted a local industrial building early this morning.

A train is believed to have ignited a large blaze that destroyed a vast crop and threatened to spread into nearby areas of Chertsey in Ashburton yesterday, firefighters say.

Verbal trespass notices have been served on ringleaders of a brawl between more than 30 people outside McDonald's in Ashburton on Sunday morning.

Ministry for Primary Industries officials have approved an incursion programme in mid-Canterbury following a spillage of one of Europe's most invasive arable weeds - black grass - found in a consignment of imported fescue seed.

The Methven resident was on his way home from Ashburton when he ploughed into three cows at about 7pm on Saturday.

More than a hundred food handlers in Ashburton have been vaccinated against hepatitis A, as the virus continues to spread through the township.

Three weeks ago Col Sheehan was enjoying a few holes at the Tinwald Golf Course before his pet very likely saved his life.

A truck was cut in half and debris scattered for 500 metres when it was hit by a train at a rail crossing in Ashburton this morning.

Samuel John Townhill, 39, pleaded guilty in Ashburton District Court yesterday to two charges of destroying the nests of black-billed gulls laid under the Wildlife Act.

A teenager accused of murdering Ashburton mother Sina Solomona has pleaded not guilty in Youth Court today.

Serious questions are being raised as to how the Ministry of Education allowed a bus company to compromise the safety and welfare of disabled children in Ashburton.

A teenager will reappear in Youth Court today charged with the murder of young Ashburton mother Sina Solomona.

Mystery surrounds what caused a power outage that left two thirds of urban Ashburton in the dark on Tuesday night.