NZTA hopes a new road connecting Warkworth and Wellsford will reduce crash casualties on the route by 80 per cent.

Two people were seriously injured in the single car crash about 8am north of Warkworth.

Some Mangawhai residents are out of water and facing longer delays to replenish their tanks after WaterCare turned off the taps at their closest filling stations.

A diesel spill and heavy holiday traffic is making it slow going north of Auckland.

Significant delays remain on State Highway 1 north of Wellsford after this morning's truck crash.

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

One dead after tractor rolls on farm north of Auckland.

Two children suffered minor injuries after the school bus they were on collided with a van on State Highway One north of Auckland.

An empty school bus and truck have collided north of Wellsford this morning.

A woman was airlifted to hospital in a critical condition after falling down stairs near Auckland yesterday.

Teen from Kaiwaka fell from the top of stairs and slid down and hit the concrete at the bottom.

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.

Farmer flown to hospital after bull sat on his head.

A "horrific" Queen's Birthday weekend on the roads where 11 people died in crashes over three days, the highest toll in 27 years.

First-home hunters sick of missing out because of Auckland's raging prices should consider a move south.

Mother of three Laura Singh, who was missing for five days, is undergoing medical assessments after she was found in Wellsford yesterday.

A man has been taken into police custody following the discovery of a woman's body north of Auckland this morning.

One person has been airlifted to Auckland City Hospital in a critical condition after a cattle truck rolled on their car north of Wellsford late this afternoon.

A "bold and outrageous" cattle rustling case has divided a rural community north of Auckland.

A scrub fire north of Auckland has grown six times in size over the course of today.

Holidaymakers driving home have been urged by police to "take it easy'' on the roads and plan the return journey to ensure they get home in one piece.

The steady life in sales and prices started in the central Auckland suburbs over a year ago and has now spread across the new supercity. But as Bruce Morris reports, it's still tough going out in the provinces.

Fuel tax is likely to rise by about 3.5c per litre over the next two years to help fund hundreds of millions in additional government spending on "roads of national significance" such as the Puhoi to Welsford highway.