Auckland and Bay of Plenty worst hit, but authorities say reduction efforts have worked.

A group of endangered New Zealand dotterels have begun nesting at a Piha site where the tiny native birds' biggest threat - dogs - are allowed to roam off-leash during the day.

A body has washed up on Muriwai Beach, north-west of Auckland, this afternoon.

Students using a school laptop to put together a yearbook came across porn a teacher had stashed on the device.

There was a record downpour in Auckland, a tornado in Taranaki and "quake lights" above Wellington. Oh, and 2016 was likely also New Zealand's hottest year on record.

The man in his mid 20s disappeared near Lion Rock just after 6pm last night.

Aucklanders get their first glimpse of the new Whoa! Studios today.

Emergency services have been called to Avondale, where a digger hit a gas main.

Auckland police are urging joggers to take extra care, following an attack on a young woman at Western Springs last night.

"They were glowing balls flying through the air."

More than 1000 households in West Auckland were without power this morning.

A caravan at a West Auckland campground has been engulfed by fire in suspicious blaze.

Nearly 100 Auckland suburbs have a median value of more than $1 million, new data shows.

Auckland drivers favour sticking with a transport levy to fill an annual $400 million transport funding gap.

There have been two more reports of attempted child abductions in West Auckland, as police continue to hunt for the man responsible for the assault of an 11-year-old boy.

Police are today knocking on doors of homes near where a 11-year-old boy was abducted in West Auckland almost two weeks ago.

A high flying real estate agent has been censured for failing to tell buyers the building inspection reports he provided were paid for by him and prepared by his own company.

The proposed Unitary Plan, has come under scrutiny at the opening of a High Court hearing where several appellants argue errors of law were made in its development.

The skipper of the doomed fishing charter vessel Francie is among those who died in yesterday's tragedy.

Women riding in style are being encouraged to show off their goods at a new car show being put on in a bid to help women's health.

Police deny chasing a white hatchback through West Auckland yesterday, saying police vehicles attended the incident after the car was located by helicopter.

Freedom campers might be able to pitch their tents across more of Auckland this summer.

A suspicious house fire being investigated by police in West Auckland is the same address where a woman was stabbed to death last month.

A hatchback was seen speeding and erratically weaving in and out of traffic on Auckland's Northern motorway before it crashed into a truck in Massey.

Power was cut to more than 260 homes and businesses in west Auckland this morning.

Women are being branded an untapped resource in filling the national trades shortage, as a new company seeks to get women into the construction industry.

A man asked a 12-year-old walking home to get inside his ute in Ranui - the latest report of strangers approaching children in the area.

Few details are available about the terrifying abduction and sexual assault of an 11-year-old boy in West Auckland last week.

Police are investigating after a video emerged on social media showing a group of teens beating a girl at a West Auckland train station.

A man named Jesus Christ broke into 13 of his neighbours' Auckland homes and took food and things he could sell to pawn shops.