Two people have been seriously burnt in several explosions and a fire at a rural property near Whangarei.

The discovery of a male Queensland fruit fly in Whangarei has sparked a major biosecurity alert. Up to 50 Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) staff were in the city.

National MP for Whangarei and former Cabinet Minister Phil Heatley says he will retire from politics at next year's election.

A 36-year-old has been found dead at a house in Northland in what police are treating as a homicide enquiry.

A teenage girl appeared to be tied up and gagged in the front passenger seat of a car near Whangarei yesterday.

Donna McIntyre escapes the city on a campervan holiday.

Police have warned retailers about an "erratic and highly strung" offender who robbed a Whangarei dairy at gunpoint yesterday.

A Whangarei man will have to wait to learn if he can avoid a conviction for drink driving so he can take up a professional contract playing rugby in Scotland.

The Independent Police Conduct Authority will formally apologise to a Whangarei family after releasing a report with incorrect information relating to drugs found in a car.

A "stoic old boy" who fell from a stack of hay bales on a remote corner of his Northland farm rode 3km in agonising pain on his quad bike to raise the alarm.

A random act of kindness brought 92-year-old fire victim Pearl Sanger close to tears after she received a signed novel from writer Lee Child, not yet released in NZ.

A Whangarei man jailed for two years and two months for violent offending during a gang feud has been released on parole with strict conditions.

A mother of four who burgled her neighbour's home has been given community work and a stern telling off for her actions.

A female dial-a-driver was thrown from the vehicle she was called to drive home after a drunk driver tried to steal it in Whangarei.

Gang members hindered emergency staff who were searching for a missing person following a house fire in Whangarei overnight.

A mental health worker was savaged about the head and neck during an attack by two dogs while she visited a client in Whangarei.

The body of a man found in the Hokianga Harbour will be released to his family for burial as soon as his identity is confirmed.

A domestic violence victim whose partner took her phone so she couldn't call police managed to raise the alarm via Facebook instead.

The wasabi sauce wasn't the only hot food item at a Whangarei sushi joint - the paua being used was also hot, having been bought illegally.

Police have officially named one-year-old Atreyu Taylor-Matene, the Whangarei youngster at the centre of a homicide investigation.

A man who admitted causing the death of a motorist can't remember what happened in the few seconds his car veered across State Highway 1 last year.

A small bay in Northland could be filled in to create a boat ramp to accommodate the number of boats launched off the beach over a few weeks in summer.