An 11-year-old boy received serious burns after petrol from a lawnmower exploded in the sleepout where he and a teenager were sleeping.

Four whales stranded at Port Waikato yesterday are to be buried in sand dunes just metres from where they lay.

Four adult whales have died after beaching themselves at Port Waikato but Conservation Department staff have successfully refloated a fifth.

Police have named the prisoner found dead at Waikeria Prison in Waikato and say ill health may have contributed to his death.

Police are investigating the death of a prisoner at Waikeria Prison near Te Awamutu last night.

Fine dining is found to exist in a place popularly called 'the Tron'.

Drive down SH39 from Ngaruawahia to Otorohanga and you'll pass a prominent sign pointing to a small, relatively unknown coastal settlement called Kawhia.

The man arrested for allegedly trying to set fire to a campervan with two people in it has been charged with the attempted murder of the pair.

A 10-year-old Hamilton girl has died after cycling down a flight of stairs. The girl had been cycling to the dairy with her aunty and cousin when the accident happened.

The alleged attempted arson of a campervan may have been an "extreme reaction" to freedom camping...

Roads and vehicles must be "more forgiving" to curb a road toll which averages more than one death a day, the AA says. Figures released by the Ministry of Transport today show 371 people died on the roads over the past year.

Police are appealing for anyone who may have seen a man and a woman walking away after a man was stabbed in Whitianga on the Coromandel Peninsula on New Year's Day to come forward.

A post-mortem on teenager Cem Erbay, who went missing in the Coromandel early on New Year's Day, has found his death was not suspicious and he most likely died as a result of a fall.

A post-mortem examination of Cem Erbay will be carried out today, say police.