A 22-year-old man is dead and three others seriously injured after an overloaded car lost control and landed in a ditch in Northland early this morning.

Eight elderly people who were injured when their van rolled in Northland have been discharged from hospital tonight. An elderly woman was killed in the crash.

Dargaville and the southern Kauri Coast are often overlooked but as Cate Foster finds, the region has hidden charms.

Robbers bashed, bound and robbed a 67-year-old woman in her home in the third aggravated robbery in Kaipara in a month.

Just over a fifth of all working-age Northlanders were on welfare benefits at the end of March.