A woman is in a serious condition and ten children have been taken to hospital after an attack by bees or wasps on Nelson's Tahunanui Beach.

The Employment Court has awarded a salad bar worker who was unjustifiably dismissed when she was sacked by text message on her second day on the job more than $2000 towards legal costs.

Darryl Rolton wouldn't hesitate to help a mate in trouble. That instinctive nature cost the Christchurch man his life on Saturday when he leapt 11 metres off the Maruia Falls.

New Zealand's most religious regions have been revealed in the latest Census data. Click here for an interactive graphic looking at the various districts.

Kayakers who rescued a man who fell over a waterfall near Nelson Lakes National Park today have been praised by police for their bravery.

A 5-year-old girl killed when the motorbike she was riding hit a fence may have panicked while on the machine, a coroner says.

A holidaymaker suffered a severe allergic reaction after he accidentally swallowed a bee while riding a bike in Coromandel this morning.

A Nelson man has been arrested and charged with hitting another man over the head with a spade.

The husband of a woman who died when their car plunged into a creek fought to control the car as she became unresponsive at the wheel moments before the fatal crash.

A captain of a fishing vessel in Nelson was making more than $100,000 a year and living in a state house, Housing Minister Nick Smith said last night.

A truck driver was trapped in his cab for more than an hour after crashing into a rock wall north of Nelson overnight.

A sleeping household had a lucky escape when a stolen car nearly ploughed into their Nelson bedroom.

A 7-year-old Nelson boy is in a critical condition after being hit by a school bus he walked in front of this morning, police say.

A truck laden with newspapers ignited in a dramatic fire in Canterbury early this morning.

Police are investigating a suspicious fire at a Nelson pub over the weekend - the second blaze to hit the establishment in less than a year.

Name suppression for a man charged with the daylight bashing of a long-serving Nelson police officer has lapsed.

Catherine Smith jumped at the chance to bike and hike her way through Nelson's stunning landscape.

A man on a motorbike indecently exposed himself to two women cyclists in Nelson yesterday.