An asbestos find at Dunedin Hospital has forced the cancellation of ultrasound outpatient appointments and closed the mortuary.

Labour's acting health spokesman David Clark has criticised Health Minister Jonathan Coleman for "dragging his heels" over the hospital's rebuild work.

An aggravated robbery in which a 59-year-old man was assaulted and left lying in an alleyway bleeding and semiconscious, brought jail for a 19-year-old man.

Dunedin police are seeking strong action against two repeat offender liquor outlets they say were caught selling alcohol to underage teens.

Train-spotters basked in an historic steam locomotive's glory as Passchendaele chugged into Dunedin Railway Station yesterday.

A Dunedin man has been given until November 10 to start removing rusting cars from his property, or face paying the cost of the council doing it for him.

Officers would prefer if you left suspected explosives where you found them.

A man injured in a hit-and-run incident in Dunedin at the weekend is thought to know the female driver of the car that struck him, police say.

University of Otago staff who avoided campus on the day of gun threat will have their annual leave deducted.

A Dunedin man who had a haul of replica guns stolen from his garage hopes they are not used for "something stupid".

Access has been restricted to parts of the Dunedin Hospital campus because of suspected asbestos contamination.

Dunedin Mayor says: ''It may be the complainants are as vexatious as the dogs.''

Police are trying to flush out a non-flushing thief.

Extra flights will be scheduled to and from Dunedin for next month's Fleetwood Mac concert as the city pushes to ensure the event is a sellout.

Unlicensed driver had three young passengers in the car when he lost control.

Police are ''following a number of lines of inquiry'' as they tried to track down the person responsible for an online shooting threat at the University of Otago.

The unseasonably high temperatures and strong winds of "Hotober" fanned the flames of South Island fires yesterday.

Police are warning students and staff to be vigilant as Otago University opens for ''business as usual'' following online threat.

Council takes leap of faith to give another chance to Black Power member who was jailed for assault and grievous bodily harm.

A chemical spill closed streets and caused hundreds of people to be evacuated in central Dunedin.

Dozens of workers have been evacuated after a chemical spill at Dunedin's Cadbury factory early this afternoon.

Matt Nippert meets Mosgiel's American hero, Lieutenant Colonel Tim Ferner.

An investigator will today determine the cause of a blaze that ripped through a Dunedin property last night.

Burglars have vandalised the Royal Albatross Centre and stolen cash in an early morning raid on the popular wildlife attraction in Dunedin.

Police were called to the Dunedin District Court yesterday after a teenager admitted carrying a BB gun into the building.

A thief's attempt to use black paint to camouflage a distinctive waste truck, known as "Little Sucker", has failed.

A man is on the run from police, slowly heading north from Dunedin in an old, stolen truck usually used to clear mud traps.

A former Dunedin lawyer who did not turn up for her trial has been found guilty on all 46 charges of tax evasion involving more than $180,000.

Masked men were armed with an axe and tried to barge their way into shop.

A Dunedin man received facial injuries after falling from an upstairs balcony during a Dunedin party, emergency services say.