A "special arrangement" immigration authorities made with a labour hire firm preceded the country's first human trafficking arrests, a court was told today.

In a New Zealand first, three people will appear in the High Court at Nelson tomorrow charged with people-trafficking.

Like many Nelsonians before them, Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, have strolled through the Saturday Market.

Road blocks are being taken down from Nelson streets and school lock-downs are lifting in the wake of the police response to a fight in which a firearms was presented.

Boy racers are in the sights of police in the Nelson Bays district.

The man was driving a white ute on State Highway 60, about halfway between Nelson and Motueka when he overtook a slow-travelling maroon Suzuki Vitara about 3pm.

A prisoner was on the run from police last night after escaping from custody at the Nelson District Court.

An area of Nelson has been evacuated after a truck carrying gas cylinders caught fire causing some to explode.

Shandelle Battersby checks in to the Rutherford Hotel in Nelson.

A man who slashed his crewmate's throat before stabbing him twice has successfully appealed to have his sentence reduced - after he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

Woman who got up early to watch the rugby was almost four times the legal alcohol limit while driving to work.

Two policemen who saved a man from a burning flat are being hailed as lifesavers. One of the rescuers required hospital treatment for smoke inhalation.

A 51-year-old man was found by members of the public after being assaulted in Nelson just after 2pm.

Two inexperienced trampers owe their lives to the volunteer search and rescue parties that rescued them from the Nelson Lakes National Park on the weekend, police say.

Two trampers were rescued from a mountain in Nelson Lakes National Park after spending a night exposed to -18C and falling snow.

An apparent ram raid of a car parts supplier in Nelson this morning is being investigated by police.

A DOC investigation is underway following allegations of kea being shot at a forestry site in Nelson.

A man has been left with burns to his mouth after an assault outside Nelson City Council offices early this morning.

Bruce Andrew Mortimer spent the last few years trying to keep out of trouble before he got killed in a hostel, his former partner says.

Bruce Andrew Mortimer died on Saturday night from injuries sustained in an earlier incident at Nelson’s Franklyn Village residential units.

A man killed this weekend and those arrested in connection with his death all lived at the same hostel.

A man has died after an alleged assault in Nelson early yesterday morning.

A panelbeating business has been fined $15,000 for spray-painting in an unsafe way that could have caused an explosion and serious health issues.

A logging factory in Nelson has been fined over $50,000 after one of its workers was injured while trying to clear a log jam on a conveyor belt by hand.

Rapid action by firefighters in Nelson this afternoon saved a plantation on an inner city hillside, from serious damage.

Peter Dunne spoke on the issue on NewstalkZB this morning, the United Future leader was cautiously in favour of fluoride.

An earthquake close to a small Alpine village in the Awatere Valley has been felt in Nelson, Marlborough and Christchurch this morning.

A man accused of pointing an air gun at a bar patron was arrested last night after being found with a pistol, tomahawk and cannabis.

A rest home worker who was dismissed after being caught with a gardener in a dead resident's room has been awarded more than $28,000 in compensation.

Police say there was no foul play to a car fire near Nelson in which a person was dead.