Pellets laced with 1080 poison will be fed to trout to assess potential risks from the planned massive dump of the pesticide in native forests.

Fergusons Bush scenic reserve has lost a bit of its majesty after scores of trees were toppled in the Easter storm.

Parts of the West Coast landscape has been drastically altered, with whole forests flattened and the main tramping tracks rendered impassable by last week's huge storm.

A mad scramble is underway on the West Coast after the unprecedented windstorm that cut a trail of damage over 400km from Karamea to Fox Glacier.

A review into the supervision of the parolee who murdered Christchurch caregiver Amy Farrall is ongoing, Corrections confirmed today.

The man who has admitted murdering Christchurch community support worker Amy Farrall, then attacking two female hitch-hikers on the West Coast was on parole and had been out of prison only 6 months.

The 38-year-old man charged with murdering Christchurch woman Amy Farrall and attacking two tourists is due to appear in the High Court this morning.

Slain Christchurch community worker Amy Farrall was given an emotional farewell today.

Murder victim Amy Farrall will be laid to rest at a private funeral service in Christchurch, with guests asked to make donations to the SPCA in lieu of flowers.

Amy Farrall's caring, loving nature and tendency to try to help people in need may have led to her violent death, her friends and family fear.

A suspect in the homicide probe into the death of Amy Farrall has been quizzed this afternoon in hospital while he undergoes surgery for dog bite injuries sustained during his arrest.

The man arrested over the attack of two hitchhikers and being spoken to in relation to a Christchurch homicide probe had been living with victim Amy Farrall, police have confirmed.

The public is being asked to report sightings of two vehicles as police investigate the death of Christchurch woman Amy Farrall.

The family of the woman whose body was found in the boot of her car at a supermarket yesterday morning say she was a kind and caring girl who loved animals.

A man has been arrested following a police pursuit and a five-hour armed stand-off after two foreign tourists were violently attacked on the West Coast yesterday.

It was every parent's worst nightmare; news their child has died while travelling on the other side of the world, their rented campervan swept off the road during a powerful storm.

A young Canadian couple were killed when their campervan was swept off the road by the second landslide to hit the road they were on, an inquest has ruled.

The spikes found driven into a highway near Greymouth last week have been described as "deadly" by a nearby tourist operator and "malicious" by Greymouth police.