Restaurant and bar owners along Christchurch's popular entertainment street, The Strip, have been able to access their buildings for the first time.
The area along Oxford Terrace is within the red zone - the part of the city most affected by February's earthquake.
Wearing hard hats and masks, people went on Thursday in to retrieve their valuables, expensive wines and liquors and some restaurant fittings.
They say the smell of rotten food in the kitchens was revolting while tables and chairs were disarray with a thick layer of dust over everything.
