A DRUNKEN student who swallowed his door key in a prank has ended up in hospitalChris Foster took the extreme step as his friends threatened to take him home when he wanted to carry on drinking.

A DRUNKEN student who swallowed his door key in a prank has ended up in hospital.

Chris Foster took the extreme step as his friends threatened to take him home when he wanted to carry on drinking.

Mr Foster, 18, had downed six beers, vodka and whisky at a friend's flat before he swallowed the two-inch Yale key.

He spent the night on the friend's sofa before borrowing a spare key to get back into his accommodation.

But the next day he started to feel unwell and a nurse at Bournemouth University, where he is studying computer-aided product design, told him the key might obstruct his digestive system and he should go to hospital.

Doctors at the Royal Bournemouth X-rayed Mr Foster and told him to let nature take its course, which it did 31 hours later.

Mr Foster, who comes from Southampton, told the Basingstoke Gazette: "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."