PARTY-mad student Chris Foster ended up in hospital after swallowing his door key because he didn't want to end a drinking binge.

Chris, 18, of Highfield Road, Southampton, had downed six beers, vodka and whisky at a friend's flat when he gulped down the Yale to avoid being taken home.

After spending the night on a pal's sofa he borrowed a spare key to get back into his accommodation.

But the next day a nurse at Bournemouth University, where he is studying computer aided product design, told him to go to hospital as the key could obstruct his digestive system.

Chris spent five hours in casualty at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital, where staff X-rayed him, until the key emerged naturally - 31 hours after he had swallowed it.

Chris said: "I just laughed at the idea of stopping drinking, I wanted to carry on and not go home. So I dry swallowed my own door key as a prank.

"It didn't hurt at the time but now my throat is slightly scratched and it's so painful to eat and drink."

Ann Grain from NHS Direct said the student had had a lucky escape.

"It was obviously a very irresponsible thing to do," she said.