This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

A man has died after falling from a Christmas tree in central Scotland.

Emergency services were called when people leaving Kitty’s nightclub, in Kirkcaldy, Fife, early on Friday found the injured man in a nearby street.

He was taken to Victoria hospital in the town but later died, said a Police Scotland spokesman.

Police cordoned off the four-metre fir tree outside Kirkcaldy Town House.

Mario Caira, Kitty’s director, said he saw the man fall from the tree on to a grassy area below. He said: “He’d climbed the tree, he was up in the tree holding on to the top. When he fell, I thought he was actually winded. I went over to check on the guy and when he wasn’t coming round I phoned an ambulance.

“It’s a tragedy. Any time of year is bad but this time of year is even worse and falling from a Christmas tree is probably even worse. Our condolences go to him and his family.”

Caira said the man, who looked to be in his 50s, appeared to be by himself and had not been in Kitty’s that night.

He believed it was a freak accident, saying: “I’m not medically trained in terms of what happened when he fell but I reckon you could do that a thousands of times and you would walk away.”

Councillor Neil Crooks, the convener of Kirkcaldy’s area committee, said: “This is a tragic thing to have happened, especially at this time of year. Our thoughts are with the family at this time.”

The police spokesman said officers were called to Hunter Street at 2.55am on Friday.

“The death is being treated as non-suspicious and inquiries are ongoing to establish the full circumstances,” he added. “A report will be sent to the procurator-fiscal.”