Police are urging members of the public to report suspicious activity straight away after a would-be burglar escaped after he was disturbed in the process of breaking into a house.

Thousands of workers have been displaced, building assessment deadlines are not being met and earthquake damage is still only just coming to light in Wellington.

Police have a new lead in the execution-style killing of Lois Tolley.

An Upper Hutt woman's social media search for a mystery man she connected with on a flight has paid off.

'I've been working flat out like a lizard drinking to sell this so I can buy a ute,' says jilted Kiwi lover.

Some of areas of Upper Hutt received up to 20 millimetres of rain in minutes during last night's heavy downpour, according to MetService.

Police probing the murder Lois Tolley have identified the owner of a white ute as part of their ongoing investigation.

Police are looking for people to identify the owners of clothing and a ute in the case of murdered Upper Hutt woman Lois Tolley.

Police are confident they have caught Lois Tolley's killers on camera.

A burst water main in Upper Hutt which caused a "pretty spectacular" fountain of water and hindered the train service has been fixed. A

Lois Tolley's aunt always looked forward to her niece stopping by to give her a hug and natter about the world's problems. Those visits are memories now.

Police investigating the murder of Upper Hutt woman Lois Tolley say they have spoken to a number of people and made arrests on "unrelated matters".

Members of slain Upper Hutt woman Lois Rita Tolley's family were meant to be gathering for Christmas celebrations, but instead they will be gathering for a funeral.

The devastated mother of Lois Tolley who was murdered in Upper Hutt says her daughter was a "very caring person who loved life".

A woman found dead at an Upper Hutt property on Friday night was "lovely", "positive" and had a "huge heart", friends say.

Lois Rita Tolley has been remembered as an "amazing human" after she was found dead in a house in Upper Hutt on Friday.

Police are hunting three men over a suspicious death in Upper Hutt, which has sparked a homicide investigation.

Police have increased their patrols around Upper Hutt schools following reports of men trying to lure children away - with one man offering a child Pokemon cards to follow him.

Traffic leaving central Wellington is gridlocked as commuters scramble to leave the rain-battered city.

A string of motorists is stranded on State Highway 2 as authorities across the Wellington region prepare for evacuations.

A bus driver was taken to hospital with "superficial head injuries" after three people tried to rob him in Upper Hutt this morning.

A Hutt City councillor has beaten out her closest rival by only six votes.

A man has suffered burns after causing a "steam explosion" in Upper Hutt. Police attended the incident at the request of ambulance

An 76-year-old woman with dementia is missing in Hutt Valley.

A former tax agent who didn't pay his clients' tax to the Inland Revenue Department and falsified 250 GST and income tax returns in

Upper Hutt College was swindled out of $375,000 by its former executive officer Donald Hancox, who today pleaded guilty to 10 fraud charges.

A man and woman, believed to be under the influence of alcohol, had to be rescued after the ute they were driving got stranded in the rapidly surging waters of the Hutt River.

Nineteen bulls on their way to the meatworks made a brief escape for freedom, after the trailer they were in rolled off the road in Upper Hutt.

The truck has currently blocked the Blue Mountains Rd after the crash caused the trailer to hang over the edge of the road.