The long arm of the law comes to the rescue of a hedgehog with a pottle stuck on its head.

A hedgehog, suspected of drunkenness and with a yoghurt pottle on its head, has been given a stern talking to by police in Arrowtown.

A posting on the police Facebook page records that the hedgehog was "looking very drunk and walking into things".

"After a brief foot pursuit the subject was cornered and the yoghurt pot removed. Crime prevention advice provided about going through other people's rubbish. Lived to fight another day," police said.

"This is not the first time we've dealt with disoriented hedgehogs, but we hope the prevention advice given will see a decrease in hedgehog food container related incidents."

The posting went up on Monday afternoon and by Tuesday morning had been watched 65,000 times.

"You guys are awesome," one commenter said. "First pawpatrol and now hedge hog rescue."

"Well done. That was quite a prickly situation," said another.