Lives were put at risk from couch fires lit too close to houses in Dunedin's student quarter, Dunedin police and the Fire Service have warned.

Peter Feeney finds Dunedin is a supercity minus the sleaze.

A young mother helped stop her former partner - 'psychotic' on synthetic cannabis - from driving her and her child into Otago Harbour.

A police officer was punched in the head by a motorcyclist after a high-speed chase through Dunedin last night.

A Dunedin man has admitted indecently assaulting a 13-year-old girl who was babysitting at a house in Timaru early last year.

An ''outrageous'' initiative will see undercover police officers ''spying on patrons'', Hospitality Association chief executive Bruce Robertson says.

The Invercargill woman charged with keeping too many cats on her city property can be now be named.

A 14-second clip of three young women being kicked and punched by a group of drunk teens has appalled the victims, who ask who posted the video - but didn't help them.

Awe-inspiring mountain country amply rewards tramper Conor MacHugh.

A classic car connected to convicted fraudster Michael Swann has been found abandoned in a Christchurch street.

A Dunedin driver who crashed into a cow woke up in a smoke-filled car with an 18-wheeler truck bearing down on her.

Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull has ''no regrets'' about stepping in to buy a set of leg irons, despite evidence they were used to hold camels, not Maori prisoners as had been believed.

'At that level I'm surprised you were even able to get your keys in the car.' A Dunedin judge slams a woman for driving drunk with her 2-year-old in the car.

The Dunedin mother of a victim who had her head split open with an axe is campaigning for tougher penalties for offenders who breach protection orders.

Fergus Blakiston rekindles his love affair with Central Otago.

Left leaning political commentator and academic Bryce Edwards has pulled out of Otago University's Vote Chat online politics show over concerns the programme is now dominated by National Party supporters.

The Invercargill woman charged with keeping too many cats on her city property is continuing the fight to keep her name secret.

A boy out on a quiet street in his pyjamas, ''hysterical and upset'', alerted neighbours yesterday to an unexplained death in Dunedin.

Finding escaped prisoner Stephen Maddren is now like finding a needle in a haystack, police concede.

Horrified motorists rushed to the aid of four seriously injured people after two cars collided head-on last night on Dunedin's Southern Motorway.

Fergus Blakiston embarks on a 10-day odyssey of the South's skiing high points.