The New Zealand Racing Board will donate to the West Coast community 5c for every off-course tote ticket bought on the seven race meetings being held in the region in the coming weeks.

The Coronial Inquest into the deaths of 29 men in the Pike River Coal mine will be held early next year, the chief coroner Judge MacLean says.

Pike River Mine was evacuated this morning when gas levels rose sharply...

The Pike River mine will not be handed over to receivers while the operation to recover the bodies of the 29 workers continues, police say.

Families of the 29 miners who died at Pike River Coal mine have been given a chance to spend Christmas near the bodies of their loved ones after police offered to take them to the mine on December 25.

As a new machine arrives to help recovery efforts at Pike River, receivers say they may not be able to claim a full $100m insurance payout to reimburse creditors of Pike River Coal.

Labour Leader Phil Goff has joined calls for the Government to fund the recovery of the bodies of 29 men trapped in the Pike River mine.

Kyle Scott and Liz Blatch still had their wedding at Darfield's Oak historic homestead only hours after the 7.1 earthquake.

The man accused of murdering two Hokitika men three weeks ago was named for the first time when he appeared in court today.

A 41-year-old Hokitika man has appeared in court to face a charge of murdering an elderly man found shot dead yesterday.

A 41-year-old man will appear in court today on one count of murder after a double shooting in Hokitika yesterday.

A man in his 40s has been charged with two counts of murder and will appear in the Greymouth District Court tomorrow.