A 45-YEAR-OLD man is fighting for his life after falling more than 20ft from the top of a staircase at an 18th Century pub.

The man, who had travelled to Thirsk, North Yorkshire, with a group of friends and relatives from Langley Park, in County Durham, is understood to have suffered serious head injuries and fractured legs in the incident at The Three Tuns hotel at about 3.30pm on Saturday.

Shocked onlookers said the Market Place pub was busy with crowds attending the Irish Day meeting at Thirsk Racecourse when the man, who has not been named, climbed a winding staircase in the Grade II-listed building, towards the toilets.

A spokesman for the pub’s owners, Wetherspoons, said the man appeared to have been talking on his mobile phone when he twisted while trying to turn round and fell over the staircase bannisters.

Wetherspoons spokesman Eddie Gershon said staff immediately called for an ambulance, while others provided assistance to the injured man, who was taken to The James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough.

Staff at the pub have been told the man has been in surgery after a blood clot developed on his brain.

Mr Gershon said: “This was a horrendous situation and everyone at the pub is praying for the gentleman.

“We are proud of the actions of our staff and appreciate the comments from pub-goers in praising staff in the way they handled the situation.”

It remains unclear whether the man had travelled to Thirsk for the horseracing because the incident happened midway through the meeting.

A North Yorkshire Police spokesman said last night the man remained in a critical, but stable condition.

Police are investigating the circumstances which led to the man falling and are studying the pub’s CCTV footage.

Detectives have urged anyone who visited the pub after travelling to Thirsk to attend the races or was in The Three Tuns at the time of the incident to call 101, select option two, and ask for Sergeant Simon Hepburn.