Residents who were evacuated this afternoon have been allowed to return to their homes tonight.

Two people have been helicoptered to Auckland Hospital following a two-vehicle crash near Warkworth, north of Auckland, this afternoon.

The soon-to-be former Prime Minister has farewelled the Queen of England in a phone call this morning.

Transport Minister Simon Bridges says a motorway from Auckland to Whangarei is on the cards.

Outgoing PM John Key is remaining tight-lipped on who he is backing for the deputy PM role as he spends the day with aspiring candidate Simon Bridges.

A 40-year-old pregnant woman critically injured in a car crash on Friday is now in a serious condition in hospital.

A pregnant woman is in hospital after suffering critical injuries when the car she was driving and another vehicle collided in the Dome Valley.

A two-car crash is causing heavy congestion on State Highway 1, south of Warkworth.

A man died after the car he was in was washed 100m down a flooded creek during heavy downpours in Northland.

COMMENT: With the passing of Auckland's Unitary Plan, Warkworth's notorious State Highway 1 intersection at Hill St just got worse.

Brazen thieves cut through a wire fence to steal items from the garage sale area of Hospice House in Warkworth - the second in less than a week.

A Whangarei man was forced to jump from a moving car after he was allegedly kidnapped then assaulted. Police confirmed the man suffered

Proposed road name for the new road is Cash Cow Rd to be associated with the current owner Cash Cow Limited.

A Warkworth man is in a critical condition after being run over by his tractor this morning.

The govt will put the financing and construction of the Puhoi-Warkworth Highway out to tender as a public private partnership.

A body has been found near an area where police were searching for missing fisherman Nick Stubbs.

The search for a Warkworth fisherman who has been missing for more than a week is continuing.

School friends of Nick Stubbs say they'll keep searching the sea everyday until they find their mate.

When Nick Stubbs and a mate left Martins Bay near Warkworth in a red fibreglass boat at 5pm on Tuesday, he told loved ones they 'wouldn't be long'.

A large tree has fallen across State Highway 1 north of Auckland resulting in traffic delays in the area, police say.

A desperate man managed to send two text messages to his partner after his boat sank, but they were dismissed as a joke.

Controversial plans to extend Auckland's motorway network to Warkworth have won draft approval after a public hearing over three months.

A passerby has rescued two children from a car fire that started from a cigarette lighter.

Warkworth's maddening turnoff to eastern beaches will be worsened by a $760 million motorway extension past the town, a retired senior engineer warned a board of inquiry yesterday.

Catherine Smith looks at some of the new facilities and activities on offer in Auckland's regional parks.