Westport residents showed their support for a new open-cast coal mine yesterday by decorating the town in the Buller colours of red and blue.

A Westport man has told a jury the 8.5kg of cannabis police found in his home and vehicle was all for his own use.

Bathurst Resources has cleared another hurdle in its struggle to start coal mining on the Denniston Plateau near Westport but still needs the blessing of courts and faces tough market conditions.

The origin of three flares seen off the coast of Westport last night remains a mystery after an extensive search failed to find any sign of a distressed vessel.

A high-profile criminal lawyer, convicted for drink-driving three times, now spends $800 a month in taxis so he can go to the pub every night, a tribunal heard today.

The pilot of a microlight that crashed on Wednesday night, killing two men, has has been described as a fun-loving family man.

A father who found the wreckage of a microlight in which his son and another man were killed says he knew the risks and "you can't cover your kids up in cotton wool".

A Westport man had a lucky escape on Boxing Day after an armed burglar attacked him with a steel bar.