A man who claimed he was trying to find his way home after a night out fell through the roof of a pet shop and landed in a fish tank.

The man was unhurt in the incident, which occurred at about 3am on Sunday following a heavy drinking session.

The pet shop manager Matthew Toner, who lives above Aqua Pets, in Tolworth, Kingston, Surrey, has described how he ran downstairs to see the man's legs going through the roof.

He said: 'He told me he was trying to find his house and that he lived next door.

'He had admitted he was stupid and is coming in to apologise with us. I don't want to rub it in.'

The man, who was initially thought to be a burglar, was arrested at about 3am on Sunday in an alleyway near the shop after his soaked trousers had been spotted.

The pet shop owner Peter Hunt said: 'Unfortunately he ran across our flat roof which has a fibre glass lighting partition. He fell straight through and ended up in a 3ft x 3ft fish tank.

'The fish are alright but the guy was arrested and taken to Kingston nick where he slept the night.

'It was a miracle he didn’t kill himself.'

He said the fish tank contained tropical fish, including angel fish, parrot fish, rainbow fish and kissing guaramis. But he said: 'No piranhas. That would have been a good story.'

The man scrambled out of the tank and up through the glass roof when he was confronted by the store’s manager who lives above the shop and was woken by the crack of breaking glass.