An Amsterdam man had the shock of his life on Friday night when he found a drunken British tourist in his bed.

The tourist had apparently been unable to find his way back to his hotel and managed to climb in through the open first floor window on the Oetgensstraat in the east of the city and gone to sleep.

The man, named by local broadcaster AT5 as Eric, had left the window open when he went out so his cat could come and go. When he came home, he spent some time watching television and then went to bed, where he found the tourist.

‘I woke him up and asked him who he was,’ Erik said. ‘He said something like “am I not in a hotel?”. He really did not know where he was. Totally away with the fairies.’

Erik called the police who took the hapless tourist off to the station. He was interviewed but so drunk that police think he had no idea what was going on, AT5 said. He has since been released without charge.

According to the Telegraaf, the tourist was in Amsterdam with a group of friends but had lost them and his telephone. The police had managed to get in touch with a friend who helped the tourist find the hotel where he had been staying.

Een bewoner van een flat in Oost trof vannacht een dronken Brit in zijn eigen bed aan https://t.co/EN9eGi1KY0 pic.twitter.com/5oqCPo45aP

— AT5 (@AT5) March 12, 2016