A pickaxe-wielding teenager in a disguise robbed a shop early this morning.

"I just wanted to help those innocent ladies," says a 76-year-old man who used a pick axe handle to drive off two large dogs attacking two women.

A heroic neighbour fought off a pair of bull mastiff-cross dogs mauling two women out for a walk in South Invercargill this afternoon.

Firefighters have contained a large fire at a car wrecking yard in Invercargill.

Two cases of ATM "shoulder surfing" have come before Auckland courts today, covering tens of thousands of dollars of alleged offending.

Blue Sky Meats, whose shares trade on the Unlisted platform, has agreed to acquire Gore-based Clover Export.

A 27-year-old Invercargill man has been arrested following an armed robbery of a Southland dairy yesterday.

A 26-year-old man suffered a fractured skull in a "senseless" unprovoked attack in Invercargill over the weekend.

Devastated family demands answers after heavily pregnant mother of three died two days after she was sent home from hospital still complaining of chest pains.

A police dog handler whose animal bit a suspected criminal, who turned out to be an innocent man relieving himself in a car park, has been cleared of any wrongdoing.

The designer of the Southland Stadium, the roof of which collapsed under heavy snow in 2010, has been expelled from the Institution of Professional Engineers NZ.

The Invercargill woman charged with keeping too many cats on her city property can be now be named.

Dangerous black ice is expected on southern roads tomorrow morning, and drivers are being urged to take extreme care.

The weather system that brought heavy snow to Otago and Southland was this morning sitting just north of Christchurch and is heading up the country.

Severe rain and wind warnings and a drop in temperatures have been issued for parts of the South Island and lower North Island this weekend.

Invercargill police used illegal and unjustified excessive force by letting a police dog bite and drag a suspected burglar for almost a minute, an IPCA probe found.

A person is dead and seven injured following a caravan and house fire at Invercargill early today.

The gas bottle explosion that rocked central Invercargill yesterday, seriously injuring the man transporting it in his ute, is extremely rare and will take some investigating to find out why it blew up, fire experts say.

Investigators are picking through shards of glass and twisted metal to work out why a gas bottle exploded in Invercargill today, injuring two people

Firefighters are dampening down hot spots after a block of shops caught fire in Invercargill this morning.

Police are looking for a man who exposed himself to two teenage girls as they walked through an Invercargill park yesterday.