The woes of an Australian man who was trapped for 10 hours inside the chimney of a pub appear to be far from over after the police officers said they were planning to question him on the reason why he got stuck there in the first place.

The cops said it was rather odd for the man to be making a Christmas delivery as it was already late, prompting them to theorize he may have been a novice burglar who got stuck in the chimney he tried to use as an entry point.

It took firefighters about 90 minutes to set him free from the chimney of the Gapview Hotel bar in Alice Springs after authorities were alerted by staff who heard his moans early Friday morning.

An Alice Springs fire station officer said they believe the man might have been stuck for more than 10 hours.