pub owner calls police after pub lock-in

– Mon Oct 11, 11:12 pm ET

WELLINGTON (AFP) – A sleepy New Zealander who staged an unplanned one-man lock-in at his local pub had to call police to release him, it was reported Tuesday.

Staff at the Coach and Horses Inn in the South Island town of Lawrence somehow missed the 42--year-old as they were closing up early on Sunday morning and left him snoozing at the bar, the Otago Daily Times reported.

It said the man woke up at 5.30am and called police to let him out, fearful he would trigger alarms if he tried to exit by himself.

After scouring the town for someone with a key to the hotel, police turned up 90 minutes later and found the man asleep on a couch in the public bar with a bottle of beer next to him.

Police said the first thing the man did was to offer to pay for the beer, which he took after he realised he was in for a long night.

He was not charged and was given a ride home by police.