CHRISTMAS came early for a man in a remote Territory roadhouse yesterday, after he was rescued from a chimney he found himself stuck in during an attempted break and enter.

media_camera Yulara Firies rescuing a man from the Mount Ebenezer Roadhouse’s chimney

Staff at the remote Mount Ebenezer Roadhouse arrived at work early yesterday morning to discover the man calling for help from their fireplace.

Half-naked, the man had allegedly tried to clamber down the chute some time in the middle of the night to gain entry into the business.

Unfortunately for him he was cut short, and remained trapped in the stonework until a fire and rescue crew were able to drive up from Yulara community, 188km away, and break him free.

Roadhouse all-rounder Kevin ‘Chevy’ Carter arrived at 7am to open the roadhouse, when he heard the voice yelling for help.

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“It scared the sh*t out of me,” Mr Carter said.

He called emergency services in Yulara and offered the man a bite to eat.

“You could see his hand so I passed him up a sausage roll and a bottle of water, and I asked him, ‘how you gonna pay for that, with cash or card?’

“A couple minutes later a wrapper and an empty bottle came down.”

Mr Carter said some of the roadhouse locals had a bit of a laugh after the man was cut loose.

“Some dickh*ad shouted out, ‘where’s me new bike for Christmas, Santa’?”

Retail Operations Manager at the roadhouse Sean Akers said the firies had had to make a “fairly substantial hole” to free the man.

The man was removed and taken to the Imanpa Health Clinic with a few grazes. Police said they would speak to the man regarding the incident once he was well enough.