Most of the 25 cats owned by Invercargill woman Averil Gardiner have been rehomed to meet a court's deadline.

'The time has come for reality to sink in,' said a judge as he ordered an Invercargill woman to dispose of 22 of cats.

An Invercargill woman went to great lengths to hide her face yesterday during a court hearing over the 25 cats she keeps on her property.

A pickaxe-wielding teenager in a disguise robbed a shop early this morning.

"I just wanted to help those innocent ladies," says a 76-year-old man who used a pick axe handle to drive off two large dogs attacking two women.

A heroic neighbour fought off a pair of bull mastiff-cross dogs mauling two women out for a walk in South Invercargill this afternoon.

Firefighters have contained a large fire at a car wrecking yard in Invercargill.

Two cases of ATM "shoulder surfing" have come before Auckland courts today, covering tens of thousands of dollars of alleged offending.

Blue Sky Meats, whose shares trade on the Unlisted platform, has agreed to acquire Gore-based Clover Export.

A Southland farmer has been ordered to pay $152,000 in fines and reparations after a worker on his farm was crushed to death in August last year.

The body of a missing man whose dinghy was found in an Invercargill river has been recovered.

A 27-year-old Invercargill man has been arrested following an armed robbery of a Southland dairy yesterday.

A 26-year-old man suffered a fractured skull in a "senseless" unprovoked attack in Invercargill over the weekend.

Devastated family demands answers after heavily pregnant mother of three died two days after she was sent home from hospital still complaining of chest pains.

The Invercargill woman charged with keeping too many cats on her city property can be now be named.

The Invercargill woman charged with keeping too many cats on her city property is continuing the fight to keep her name secret.

Dangerous black ice is expected on southern roads tomorrow morning, and drivers are being urged to take extreme care.

The weather system that brought heavy snow to Otago and Southland was this morning sitting just north of Christchurch and is heading up the country.

Severe rain and wind warnings and a drop in temperatures have been issued for parts of the South Island and lower North Island this weekend.

Invercargill police used illegal and unjustified excessive force by letting a police dog bite and drag a suspected burglar for almost a minute, an IPCA probe found.

A person is dead and seven injured following a caravan and house fire at Invercargill early today.

The gas bottle explosion that rocked central Invercargill yesterday, seriously injuring the man transporting it in his ute, is extremely rare and will take some investigating to find out why it blew up, fire experts say.

Investigators are picking through shards of glass and twisted metal to work out why a gas bottle exploded in Invercargill today, injuring two people