Firefighters from Forster Fire and Rescue attended a fire at Chung Wa Chinese Restaurant in Manning Street, Tuncurry at about 7.30am on Saturday, April 20 to find the inside of the restaurant on fire.

The officer in charge, Tim Croaker, said the premises was extremely hot and there was an abundance of smoke, which indicated the fire had been burning for some time.

The crew extinguished the blaze quickly and ensured the damage was confined only to the restaurant and none of the other three commercial premises that share the building.

Police are investigating the cause of the fire but it is not believed to be suspicious.

It is suspected the fire originated from an electrical fault with one of the refrigerators on the premises.

Firetrucks from Taree Fire and Rescue, Tuncurry Rural Fire Brigade, Green Point Rural Fire Brigade and Diamond Beach Rural Fire Brigade also attended the scene and the road outside the building was closed for a short time.

That night, a 41-year-old Forster man was arrested for allegedly breaking into a residential premises on Kenrose Street at Forster. He was charged with aggravated break and enter with intent (whilst armed) and resist police.

He appeared at Forster Local Court where he was released on conditional bail to reappear in June.

During a patrol of the Krambach area on Saturday night, officers stopped a vehicle and subjected the 46-year-old male driver to a random breath test. The test returned a positive reading so the man was taken to Nabiac Police Station for a breath analysis.

This returned a mid range reading. He was charged and will appear in Forster Local Court next month.

On Sunday, April 21, a number of motor vehicles were broken into in the Mudford St, Rosewood Crescent and Burrawang Crescent areas of Taree. Police are appealing to anyone with information in relation to these incident to contact police.

A 20-year-old man was stopped by police in Gloucester on Sunday. Police located cannabis and methylamphetamine with the man, who was carrying a bag. He was charged and will appear in Gloucester Local Court in June.

Several windows were smashed at Gloucester High School during the Easter period. If anyone has information relating to this damage, contact police.

On Sunday night, police were called to Queen Elizabeth Park in Taree to reports a man had exposed himself to the patrons of a waterfront restaurant. Police attended a short time later and located a 55-year-old man seated on a chair in the park. He was arrested and taken to Forster Police Station where he was charged with wilful and obscene exposure. He will appear at Forster Local Court in May.

About 2.15am on Sunday morning, officer saw a vehicle travelling towards them cross to the incorrect side of the unbroken centre lines on Stewarts River Road, Johns River. The vehicle was stopped and the 28-year-old male driver was subjected to a roadside breath test which proved positive.

The driver was arrested and taken to Taree Police Station where he returned a positive reading of 0.124. Licence checks revealed he was only the holder of a P2 licence. The man was charged with mid range drink driving and his licence was suspended. He will appear in Forster Local Court in May.

About 4pm on Monday, April 22, police arrested a 16-year-old boy in Forster in relation to two outstanding court warrants.

The boy attempted to evade police and was located hiding beneath a bed. He was found in possession of a knife and five bags of methylamphetamine.

He was charged with supply and possess prohibited drug and offences related to the knife. He appeared before Forster Children's Court where he was remanded in custody until May 30.

About 2pm the same day, Monday, police and firefighters were called to an aged care facility in Wingham due to a suspected gas leak.

On arrival, five workers at the facility were suffering from exposure to gas and were treated by paramedics. A search of the premises found no leak and it is believed the gas possibly came from a gas delivery at a nearby premises.

About 7pm, police stopped a vehicle in Tuncurry for a random breath test. The driver admitted to consuming 10 schooners throughout the afternoon. The driver was arrested and underwent a breath analysis which returned a reading of 0.104. He was charged with mid range drink driving and his licence was suspended. He will appear in Forster Local Court on May 22.

There were two break and enter offences reported in Nabiac on the weekend. Following assistance from the community, police interviewed a 14-year-old boy and recovered all the property from those offences. The boy will be dealt with under the Young Offenders Act.

Police are appealing for information after three firearms, ammunition and cash were stolen from a rural property in the Great Lakes.

On Friday, April 19 a 52-year-old man left his rural property on the Pacific Highway at Nabiac.

He arrived home about 6pm on Tuesday, April 23 and noticed the gun safe door in the garage had been forced open, with two shotguns and an air rifle, ammunition, cash and jewellery missing.

Officers established a crime scene and initiated an investigation.

A number of items have been seized by detectives for forensic examination.

For any police reports, contact Taree Police Station on 65520399, Forster Police Station on 65551299 and Crime Stoppers on 1800333000.