A British pensioner was impaled on his garden railings after going out drinking - before trying to climb into his house when he could not unlock the gate.

Retiree Michael Girling, 65, had been out with friends at bars in Pattaya, Thailand, on Saturday night.

But when he returned shortly before midnight, he was fumbling with the lock and 'too drunk' to open the gate at his rented home in the chaotic city.

The bungling expat tried to clamber over the iron railings only to slip, sending one of the gold spikes piercing through his tummy.

Michael was stuck on the railing before neighbour Pat, 50, heard his cries of pain.

She said: 'I heard cries and came out to look and saw the foreigner stuck on the metal bars.

'He was stabbed in the stomach by a spike on the fence. He could not get down and I couldn't help him myself, so I called an ambulance.

'The firemen brought a ladder for the foreign man to stand on and support himself until they could bring him down.'

Pat said that Michael had been living at the house for a few months.

Paramedic Nakaret Cha said that Michael spent the night in hospital and has been recovering.

He said: 'Before the incident happened, the foreign tried to unlock the gate to enter the house by himself, but he was too drunk.

'He was unable to unlock the home with the house key, so he decided to climb into the house. That's when the accident happened.

'He is lucky that a neighbour helped him. The blood loss could have been severe if he stayed there all night.'