Hamish McNeilly

Dozens of drivers have been ticketed by police after they were snapped on the wrong side of the road on busy South Island tourism route the Devil's Staircase.

An increasing number of motorists appear to be dobbing in bad drivers, and police are welcoming the information.

The High St cablecar could be resurrected within five years, as the trust behind the project prepares to start a major fundraising drive this year.

Constable Jaimee McDonald supplies a high-visibility vest to motorcyclist Neil Croft, as part of an effort to raise two-wheel awareness among Dunedin road users. Dozens of free bright-yellow vests, supplied by the Accident Compensation Corporation, were given to motorcyclists and cyclists.

What goes up must come ... er, hang on.

New Zealand had its lowest drowning death toll in six years last year - but the number of powerboat-related drownings is increasing.

Petty crime: no matter if it is a stolen bottle of milk, a nicked kid's bike or a garden gnome gone walkabout, it still matters to someone, and it still matters to police in the South. Hamish McNeilly reports.

A Dunedin teen brought the Taieri Gorge tourist train to a shuddering stop yesterday - after dropping his iPhone.

Heroin, morphine and ecstasy pills are just some of the illegal substances intercepted by the New Zealand Customs Service in the South last year.

The large weeds appearing on Dunedin streets made the city look ''Third World'', a disgruntled inner-city resident says.

The ''egregious errors of Dunedin police'' led to the wrongful conviction of David Bain, who in the interest of justice deserved compensation, the former judge appointed to review his compensation claim concluded.

Statistically, Dunedin is New Zealand's worst city for motor vehicle crashes and casualties but authorities say the numbers are dropping.

Customs has seized and destroyed almost 800kg of synthetic cannabis products destined for the New Zealand market, it has been revealed.

Police have decided not to press charges against a juvenile runaway who narrowly avoided becoming Christmas lunch - twice.

A quadbike crash in South Otago last night claimed the life of a ''marvellous young man'' recently appointed the head boy of the Catlins Area School.