Two people have been charged over alleged kickbacks at two Manukau Maori organisations.

Police and the Armed Offenders Squad swarmed a Canterbury property today, only to find no one there.

Troubled schools: A school where teachers were allegedly given "illegal" payments is one of nine under Government control.

Two Canterbury fires are being treated as suspicious after being discovered one street apart in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Many people evacuated from Kaiapoi due to the tsunami risk have hunkered down in their vehicles at the Pak n'Save carpark in Rangiora.

Former national wrestler Devon Charles Bond's past caught up with him in 2014 when his DNA was taken following a drunken brawl.

'When the pager went off I didn't read it properly and didn't realise the fire was at our station,' says firefighter.

A woman is in a critical condition after a serious crash in Rangiora this morning.

Armed police have raided a house in North Canterbury this morning, suspected to be linked to illegal drugs.

"We're just getting prepared for a breakfast trade," says publican. "We've already got two eggs and a sausage on a plate, we don't need anymore."

Tori Giles was dressed in a fire-retardant suit and helmet before being put in a metal cage on the front of the monster truck that smashed through walls set alight.

A stunt involving a teenage volunteer being placed inside a cage in front of a monster truck that was driven through fire is being looked into by WorkSafe New Zealand.

When someone leaves a laptop on a park bench in Sydney they probably don't expect it to turn up in a small town in New Zealand.

A father-of-three is dead after a weekend jet-ski trip with his brother and friend turned to tragedy in North Canterbury.

The McEwan kids of Rangiora made the most of today's torrential and relentless rain by getting inventive, adventurous, and thoroughly wet.

Two men accused of murdering Rangiora man Tony John Lochhead in an alleged armed robbery last month have pleaded not guilty and will stand trial in a year's time.

A second man has appeared in court charged with the murder of Rangiora man Tony John Lochhead during an alleged armed robbery at the weekend.

A silver Subaru may hold the key to solving a murder that has shocked a small north Canterbury town, police say.

A 5-year-old girl was hit by a car outside a school in Rangiora, north of Christchurch, this morning.

Off-roading fans say burned out cars common in area but body find was complete shock Shane Malcolm Bell I wished we had kept on driving because it was a grisly find.

What do you do when you see flames billowing from a house? For helicopter pilot Godley Evans, it was a no-brainer.

Rangiora, 25km from Christchurch, escaped unscathed from the Christchurch earthquakes but safety checks have now shut down some of its most important businesses.