Sparks were flying off a freight train moments before a wagon derailed, partially blocking SH1 in Clinton, a witness says.

'Why don't they shoot the bloody thing?' asks angry Oamaru resident.

Former Whanganui mayor Michael Laws has won a seat Otago Regional Council by five votes.

A Dunedin man who streaked at an All Black game and "mounted a goal post" is hoping to dodge a conviction for his nude dash.

WATCH: The Station building was hauled 400m by crane and truck from a private Lauder property and placed beside the Otago Central Rail Trail.

The house has about 10 rooms and residents were told by police to come down to the front yard.

Queenstown novice Dan Ahwa experiences the resort town's extreme, adrenaline-fuelled activities for the first time.

Massey University released its quarterly Home Affordability Report index today.

The mother of missing South Island teen Yuri Santana says her heart is "bleeding" for the 17-year-old.

Police executing a search warrant this morning discovered more than 40 cannabis plants and a large amount of methamphetamine items.

Samples taken from clippings of victim's fingernails detected DNA 430 times more likely to have come from the accused, court hears.

There are concerns for 17-year-old Yuri Santana, who hasn't been seen for a week.

Levels of arsenic higher than the acceptable level for drinking water have been found in the Hawea Flat Kindergarten's supply.

The Kurow community has lost a second sportsman in tragic circumstances within 17 months.

Sales on the first charter flight from Dunedin to see the aurora australis are taking off and the trip's organiser is considering making the flight an annual event.

Changes undermine value of national bowel screening programme, expert says.

Police say they have arrested a 55-year-old man and charged him with arson after a house fire last night.

A 21-year-old Dunedin cleaner accused of murdering his boss allegedly told a workmate he wanted to burn the victim's family in front of her.

Neighbours of a Queensberry farm are concerned about earthworks ''obliterating'' a stream...

Police are hunting for two men who fled on foot after the car they were in crashed into a power pole in the Dunedin suburb of Concord this evening.

At first she thought the body was a rubbish bag, mother of accused told the court today, before realising it was her colleague.

Two days after a Dunedin woman was found dead outside her workplace last December, the blood-soaked hammer allegedly used to bludgeon her was found in a bin outside a colleague's home.

A group of golfers playing through the mist at the St Clair Golf Club on Saturday morning came up against an unusual hazard.

A float carrying two horses has crashed in the Waitaki District this afternoon. Emergency crews were called to an area near Hampden-Palmerston

A Dunedin cleaner beat his boss to death with a hammer because she had complained about his conduct at work, the Crown says.

Shareholders of a Central Otago winery are fighting over a share sale.

Police are investigating after a milk tanker ran off the road in North Otago, killing the driver.

An 11-year-old boy has been rushed to Dunedin hospital after falling almost four metres from a rope swing.

This will be a good weekend to check out the museum or cuddle up with a book as heavy showers and thunderstorms are forecast for parts of the country.

What was described as ''a colossal electrical storm'' has hit Millers Flat, Ettrrick and Roxburgh in Central Otago.