After attending a funeral, a drunken mourner stole a hearse to go fishing.

Funeral directors tried to recover the $15,200 Ford Forte hearse by pursuing the thief but the 46-year-old drunkard easily shook them off.

He was eventually hunted down but police.

"He said he was wanting to go for a ride to (the coastal town of) Maketu to check out the sea conditions before going fishing," sergeant Ian Campion told the New Zealand Herald newspaper.

Campion said he had with him a carton of beer when he was flagged down.

The funeral was held in Rotorua, a tourist town on central North Island. The intoxicated man was charged for illegally taking the motor vehicle.