The University of Otago's reputation has been ''sullied'' by an explicit Facebook page, vice-chancellor Prof Harlene Hayne says.

A box containing an old train set - and what was believed to be a corroded mortar bomb - triggered a major police callout in central Dunedin.

Women are being urged to come forward to police if they think they have been exploited on a recently shut down Facebook page.

Police are working to identify and dispose of a suspected corroded mortar in a building in Dunedin.

A secret Facebook page where students shared explicit pictures of young women is an example of an underlying "rape culture" at University of Otago, Rape Crisis says.

A logging truck driver who led police on a "bizarre" high-speed chase after being pepper-sprayed was eventually subdued with a Taser.

A Dunedin lawyer has today admitted being behind a Ponzi scheme where he stole $2.8 million from clients over 21 years.

Firefighters are battling a large scrub fire near Dunedin.

The demolition worker who choked a Dunedin man to death in a bar toilet was a "parasite" who showed no remorse in court yesterday, a grieving uncle says.

A register of Dunedin's earthquake-prone buildings has been made public for the first time, but it is likely to represent only the tip of the iceberg, the Dunedin City Council says.

A Dutch pedestrian killed when he was hit by a taxi in Wanaka at the weekend may have been lying on the road at the time, police say.

Police have not ruled out that a man struck and killed by a car in Wanaka overnight was lying in the road when he was hit.

Heterosexual Dunedin men Travis McIntosh and Matt McCormick were married by a celebrant before about 80 friends and family at Eden Park this morning.

Two Dunedin men say they're brimming with "nervous excitement" about their wedding day tomorrow. So why are gay groups outraged about their wedding?

Parents in Dunedin have described their disgust at finding little gummy penises in bags of lollies being sold around the South Island.

Go play with the 12m of white Lego in the Auckland Art Gallery main atrium - it's great fun, it's free and it's there for six months.

Dunedin's mayor has admitted his council missed a chance to detect an alleged $1.5m fraud in its car fleet, after overlooking Audit NZ advice.

A 31-year-old woman who used a child’s scooter as a get-away vehicle has been arrested in connection with two robberies in Dunedin overnight, police say.

Police have been called in and the Serious Fraud Office notified, after the Dunedin City Council this afternoon revealed the full size of an alleged $1.5 million fraud within its Citifleet department.

Three people have been hospitalised after two Dunedin houses caught fire overnight, the fire service says.

A 21-year-old student will appear in court today after a 'commercial enterprise' of party drugs sourced over the internet was seized in Dunedin.

Snow has fallen to low levels in the South overnight, forcing the closure of many schools and prompting calls for care by motorists.

A 67-year August temperature record for Dunedin melted yesterday as strong northwesterly winds buffeted the region.

Former John McGlashan College pupil Jonny Dyas is settling back into Dunedin life after mixing with some of the biggest names in the music business.

A Dunedin man has been stripped of his firearms following a domestic incident last night.

Dunedin city councillor David Benson-Pope feels sick about street vomit in Dunedin - and now he has the pictures to prove it.

The discovery "of what appears to be explosives'' has caused the closure of a popular Dunedin scenic drive.

Music magazine NME has published a four-page spread on the influential Dunedin Sound.