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314 days ago

Supermarket plagued with rats set to close for 48 hours

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from Dunedin News

By reporter Hamish McNeilly:

A Dunedin supermarket that has been plagued with rats is set to close for 48 hours.

Staff and the union of Countdown Dunedin South store were told on Friday afternoon.

Woolworths New Zealand, which operates the store, confirmed the recent capture of four more rodents has forced the store to close.

Woolworths New Zealand director of stores Jason Stockill said: "Our local community will be aware that we’ve been working to address a rodent issue at Countdown Dunedin South for the last couple of months."

Food safety was the company’s “absolute priority”, with the supermarket giant working closely with the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI), and pest control contractor Rentokil.

“We believed we had addressed the issue, as there had been no evidence of rodent activity since January 28.
Unfortunately we have caught four rodents over the last few days so it is clear we have more work to do.”


NZ Food Safety and Rentokil confirmed the rodents were not nesting in the store, but appeared to be coming in from outside.

The Dunedin City Council was also involved in surveying neighbouring areas, in what the supermarket chain called “a coordinated response”.

“Having a safe and hygienic store is incredibly important to us and we would like to apologise to our customers for any distress and inconvenience this update causes,” Stockill said.

“We will reopen when we are confident these additional measures have been implemented. We anticipate this will be on Monday morning.”

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2 hours ago

Who’s the Smarty-Pants in the Neighbourhood? Let’s Find Out!

Riddler from The Neighbourly Riddler

I’m not alive, yet I grow with care.
I wear ornaments, lights, and sometimes a star to bear.
My evergreen presence fills the air, bringing joy to the hearts of those who prepare.
What am I?

Do you think you know the answer to our daily riddle? Don't spoil it for your neighbours! Simply 'Like' this post and we'll post the answer in the comments below at 2pm.

Want to stop seeing riddles in your newsfeed?
Head here and hover on the Following button on the top right of the page (and it will show Unfollow) and then click it. If it is giving you the option to Follow, then you've successfully unfollowed the Riddles page.

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14 hours ago

Poll: Would you rather: Christmas in summer forever or winter forever?

The Team from Neighbourly.co.nz

Just a bit of a fun poll to get you thinking.

If you had to live out your Christmas days, would you prefer it was a summer Christmas or a winter Christmas?

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Would you rather: Christmas in summer forever or winter forever?
  • 60.2% Summer
    60.2% Complete
  • 37.7% Winter
    37.7% Complete
  • 2.2% Other - I'll share below
    2.2% Complete
369 votes