Police say two women involved in a fatal crash on a farm north of Wanganui were not wearing seatbelts.

The fire was covering at least 1 hectare of tussock grass between the ocean and the airport. It was windy and the fire spreading fast, a Fire Service spokesman said.

Regional polytechnics are important to their communities, and the National-led government is underfunding them, two Labour politicians say.

Nakaila Woodward-Waitokia will be four in May. She has spent all her life at home because she has heart disease.

Two Wanganui men have been handed community-based sentences for their involvement in a pack attack on a drunk motorcycle racegoer.

Serial sex offender Stewart Murray Wilson will return to prison until at least May 2 after being denied bail this morning.

Serial sex offender Stewart Murray Wilson has appeared in Whanganui District Court this morning in relation to an alleged breach of his parole conditions.

Sex offender Stewart Murray Wilson has been recalled to prison after allegations he phoned someone he was directed not to contact.

Wanganui residents are fed up with the "disgusting" foul stench coming from the city's water treatment plant, but know it will be a while before the problem is fixed.

A woman was lucky to escape with her life from an exploding house in Wanganui East early on Saturday morning.

Bella the dog is tiny and and only 11 months old, but her insistent urgent bark on Monday night saved a family of four from tragedy.

A boozy celebration on being spared a term of imprisonment will see Michael David McIntyre spend the next 14 months in jail.

The Department of Corrections says there are no plans to expand Whanganui Prison, despite the fact it will need to accommodate more remand prisoners when New Plymouth Prison closes next month.

A dog that refused to stop barking when a fire broke out helped save a mother and her two children from the blaze in the bedroom of a Wanganui house.

A Wanganui woman who was attacked by a large dog during a bike ride with her daughter was shocked when it escaped and returned for a second attack.

A woman has been taken to hospital after being found floating down the Whanganui River in Taumarunui.

Two Wanganui charities have been left reeling after they were broken into over the weekend.

The "very old" maternity services building where a newborn baby died when he did not receive effective ventilation following his birth has been demolished and replaced.

A coroner has found that a newborn baby died because he did not receive effective ventilation following his birth at Whanganui Hospital.

The Whanganui River Rd has more tourists than last year, including an increasing number of cyclists.

Two firefighters suffered injuries likely to keep them off work for days while battling a "wall of fire" at a Wanganui house.

A retired engineer who helped design the Wanganui wastewater treatment plant says the solution is to put the fresh excess waste straight out to sea while the problem is being sorted.