A plan to restore the Wachner Pl clock tower in the inner city has been rejected by the Invercargill City Council, with one councillor describing the former city landmark as an ‘‘expensive ornament’’.

Older people facing real hardship from skyrocketing rates across the South could be forced out of their homes, an advocacy group has warned.

Creditors of a now defunct Otago engineering firm have called the runaway owner a ‘‘mongrel’’ and a ‘‘bastard’’ who needs to face up to the situation.

Central Otago will lose its status as a premier wine region and decades of effort will be "annihilated" should a planned gold mine go ahead, French wine experts say.