Four bodies - believed to be from the same family - were last night recovered from the wreckage of a light aircraft near Wanaka.

Police have recovered four bodies from a light plane that crashed near Wanaka.

A scene examination has been completed at the Dunedin house where a 24-year-old was found dead yesterday, police say.

Women outweigh the men in Queenstown's first official marathon, says Rachel Grunwell.

A shopping company is being investigated over revelations some of its door-to-door staff regularly visit beneficiaries in a Dunedin boarding house.

The Dunedin City Council's group debt has dropped by more than $25 million on the back of stronger results by its companies, new figures show.

The company running Dunedin's Forsyth Barr Stadium is promising a "completely different ball game" despite confirming another $1 million loss.

Our ancestors would have ventured deeper into our back country if they'd been able to do so in a powerful jetboat, writes Lisa Scott.

''Everyone just ran and glass showered down on to the road.'' Exploding glass caused a shower of fragments onto Dunedin's main street yesterday.

Six overseas drivers have appeared in court over the past 24 hours after a series of crashes that have focused attention on tourist driving.

A heartbroken family are mourning the loss of 5-year-old Ruby Jay Marris after a car crash involving a foreign driver in Otago.

The 5-year-old Oamaru girl killed in a crash in North Otago on Saturday has been named by police.

Government inaction has been blamed for "driving the tourist road toll" up, following two crashes involving Chinese visitors over the weekend.

A 32-year-old Chinese tourist will appear in court today after a 5-year-old Oamaru girl was killed in a North Otago crash on Saturday afternoon.

Aviation businesses face an uncertain wait and the prospect of financial losses after the grounding of the type of helicopter involved in a fatal crash last week.

A motivational speaker who lost his legs in a train accident as child has begun cycling the Central Otago Rail Trail this weekend.

Four men were jailed for at least 17 years for murdering a farmhand in North Otago but sentencing marred by hurling of abuse.

Most of the 25 cats owned by Invercargill woman Averil Gardiner have been rehomed to meet a court's deadline.

Dunedin residents are angry after they lost power for eight hours a week earlier than expected - saying the power company's attitude to the mistake was 'cavalier'.

An annual party at a sponsored student flat has been cancelled after more than 3000 people indicated they would attend.

Kiwi fugitive Paul Bennett has appeared in a Sydney court today and entered no plea after 10 months on the run ended in Australia last night.

A heated argument between two men acting "like a couple of strutting peacocks" which ended in a chase with a chainsaw at a petrol station is condemned by a judge.

The victim of an alleged sexual assault by fugitive Paul Bennett has spoken of her relief at hearing he was in police custody after 10 months on the run.

A group of Dunedin flatmates say they picked up 550kg of glass after a party they hosted on their street which attracted 1000 people.

Queenstown man Verdun Waghorn was a UFO sceptic - until he photographed one. Now he wants to know if the truth is out there.

''I try to pick up the broken glass every Sunday morning, but it was just too bad.'' 1000 revellers helped plaster a Dunedin street in glass - to residents' disgust.

A man who fell from a van travelling at 100km/h between Clyde and Cromwell last weekend has died in hospital.