A British tourist who ignored warning signs on a waterfall where dozens of people have died plunged onto rocks suffering a suspected broken hip on Christmas Eve.

Backpacker Joshua Kohler, 20, from Norwich, had hiked to the top of the 130ft high Na Muang waterfall on the island of Koh Samui shortly after heavy rain had left the rocks slippery in southern Thailand.

The youngster and seven of his friends allegedly ignored signs warning holidaymakers not to go any further, put in place following a string of deaths on the same waterfall. Eastenders actor Paul Nicholls is among those who have suffered life-threatening injuries after falling down waterfall rocks on the same island.

However, Josh is said to have climbed to the top 'to get a better view' of the cascading streams before slipping on the wet surface.

He landed on a large boulder where he was heard 'wailing in pain' after suffering a deep wound on his head and a suspected broken hip leaving him unable to walk.

Rescue teams clambered up the perilous hillside and strapped Joshua into a stretcher which they lowered down over the jagged rocks. The operation took four hours before he was taken in an ambulance to the hospital for treatment. His family has been informed.

Koh Samui rescue chief Suthipong Thongruang said: 'Rescue officers took more than forty minutes to walk up the cliff before they found the injured person.

'He was laying on a large boulder wailing in pain. There was also a group of friends with him. Some of them seemed to be teenagers.

'The injured tourist was given first aid for a 5cm deep cut on his head and a broken hip. He was put on a stretcher which was lowered down the rocks and taken to the hospital. As the stretcher moved, the injured tourist groaned from the pain.'

The rescue boss said the group wanted to go to the top of the waterfall to take pictures of the view. He said there are warning signs ordering tourists not to climb to the peak.

He said: 'Tourists must follow the warning signs at the waterfall to prevent accidents. Anyone who violates the warnings may die.

'The group was lucky because the injured person landed on a boulder. He would not have survived if he had fallen all the way down.'

Joshua and his group of seven other friends who joined him on the trek told officials they 'did not see' the danger signs ordering them not to go any further.

Officials have now made renewed calls for tourists to avoid going to the top of the waterfall, where Romanian holidaymaker Nane-Iosana Bodea, 23, died in May this year.

Spanish backpacker David Rocamundi Conesa, 26, also died after slipping while posing for pictures at the same waterfall in July 2019. While French tourist Bastien Palmier, 30, died just a few months later in November 2019 when he fell down the Na Muang waterfall.

In July 2017, Eastenders star Paul Nicholls spent two nights stranded on a waterfall in Koh Samui before being rescued and taken to a hospital, where he stayed for several weeks.