A man has fallen to his death after he climbed a power pole in a bid to run from police in southern New South Wales.

Police say the 30-year-old was speeding in Wagga Wagga around 12:30pm AEDT today.

An officer was following him, and activated the lights on the police car to pull him over.

The man stopped but the officer says that while obtaining details from the driver, the man ran from the car and climbed a nearby power pole.

The officer told him to come down but says he ignored the directions and a short time later fell to the ground.

Paramedics tried to revive him but he died at the scene.

A critical incident team made up of investigators from Cootamundra Local Area Command will look into what happened, and the actions of the officer involved.

Police are urging witnesses to contact them.