How to heat a castle? That was the challenge for Christchurch engineer Alan Cooke when he got the job at Riverstone Castle being built by Dot Smith outside Oamaru.

Two child car seats and a handbag were all that were left when a mother's car was allegedly stolen by a young hitchhiker she'd picked up.

A Maheno teenager is fighting for his life after being struck by a milk tanker near Maheno in Otago early yesterday.

"Another kick in the teeth for the family", is how the father of teenager William Lewis has described a parole hearing for his son's killer.

A young man spent hours in near freezing conditions after leaving a hunting group in bush near Oamaru, early this morning, drunk and with no shoes.

The historic Oamaru Courthouse is to be disposed of, a decision that has been greeted with surprise and disappointment in the town.

Two cars were shunted off the back of a truck and another was badly damaged when a driver failed to correctly judge the height of an overbridge in Oamaru today.

A transgender Oamaru woman sentenced on Wednesday to nine months' imprisonment in a men's jail could apply to be moved to a women's prison.

A transgender Oamaru woman has been ordered to serve a jail sentence in a men's prison, despite a request for home detention.

A police officer talked a man into surrendering after he broke into an Oamaru supermarket with a firearm this morning.

A 71-year-old man will appear in court on 95 charges of historical sexual offending against 10 boys.

Life is never dull on the road with Grant the Cook, writes Jason Burgess.

An Oamaru man serving a life sentence for the brutal murder of a pensioner has had his parole postponed for two years.

Archaeologists yesterday battled against the tide to rescue 14th century moa bones from a "significant" historical settlement at Awamoa Creek, south of Oamaru.

It is likely a case review for those jointly accused of murdering dairy worker Justin Conrad McFarlane will be delayed by the Crown, as police continue to investigate the 35-year-old's death.

The four men charged with murdering North Otago farm worker Justin McFarlane will appear in the High Court at Timaru this morning.

The family of slain farm worker Justin McFarlane are "struggling" to come to terms with his brutal death as they prepare for the funeral of a beloved son, brother and father.

Two more arrests have been made in relation to the murder of Otago dairy worker Justin McFarlane.