Bus drivers have been told they should always carry passengers who want to pay with bank notes, even if they don't have enough change.

The free lessons will be offered once a year to Tauranga and Hamilton AA members, who can use them themselves or pass them on to a person of choice.

A bus driver who refused to let a child on board because he had $20 to pay his $1.80 fare should never have left that passenger behind, unions representing drivers say.

A Tauranga pensioner who took pity on sick and injured seagulls has stirred up a rebellion among neighbours tired of their washing and homes being splattered with bird poop.

Human remains dug up by contractors have been placed into the care of Tauranga iwi and will be reburied once work is complete.

A doctor caught driving drunk after fleeing police and crashing into a building left court yesterday wearing a Guy Fawkes' mask to avoid being photographed.

The trial for four men charged in relation to the death of Tauranga man Gary Clayton Kimura, who was attacked at his Bellevue home in 2011, began in the High Court at Hamilton this morning.

A recent review of Tauranga City Council's Mobile Shops Policy included a ban of mobile food shops trading in the suburbs, which meant no more ice-cream vans.

Cindy McQuade chooses the latter and finds a hot spot on the outskirts of Tauranga.

The driver who struck and killed an 84-year-old in Tauranga has been sentenced to pay $500 reparation for emotional harm and $132.89 in court costs to her family.

Eight Tauranga supermarkets could be forced to stop selling beer and wine for the last hour of trading in order to reduce the harm caused by alcohol.

The Tauranga man accused of holding up the Lenz Superette with a pistol has been released on bail after appearing in court.

A Filipino crewman working aboard a logging ship at Port of Tauranga suffered serious lacerations this morning after a crane-operated winch wire struck him across his chest and neck.

Tight restrictions controlling where people can freedom camp in Tauranga are to be abolished under far-reaching proposals agreed by the council.

A trip south leaves a glowing impression on Elisabeth Easther.