Man suffers head injuries after drunken fall

A drunken Invercargill man suffered serious head injuries after falling off the roof of a building as he was trying to get into a Queenstown bar early yesterday.

The intoxicated 33-year-old was denied access to Winnies bar about 1.10am yesterday, Sergeant Steve Watt of Queenstown police told the Southland Times.

"He went to the top of the stairs at (neighbouring bar) Chico's, climbed over the railing onto the roof of a clothing store, walked along a ledge and then slipped, face first, approximately 3m onto the concrete."

He was admitted to Queenstown Hospital but later transferred to Dunedin Hospital.

Police had considered laying a charge of unlawfully being on a building, Mr Watt said.

Yesterday's incident follows a similar case in Queenstown in June when a 25-year-old English tourist James Patrick Smith fell to his death from a rooftop at the Altitude bar.

Mr Smith, who had been asked to leave the bar, fell 9m as he tried to regain access via a stairwell.

- NZPA