AN unlucky pensioner has endured a calamitous Christmas slipping and falling on his back twice in a week.

Michael Goldsmith ended up in hospital on Christmas Day after his first fall - only to end slipping again on Boxing Day.

His series of unfortunate events started on Thursday when he stood on a bar of soap in the bath, slipped and fell on to his back.

The 68-year-old said: "I was in the bath having a soak when I slipped on the soap and banged my back."

He called a doctor out to his home at The Firs, Old Road North, Kempsey, near Worcester. The GP told him he had not broken anything and should take some painkillers.

"I didn't have any paracetamol in the house and it was two days before I got any," said Mr Goldsmith.

"When I did get some, they didn't make any difference so I phoned for an ambulance on Christmas Day. They kept me in Worcestershire Royal Hospital and gave me an X-ray.

"They said I'd got a badly bruised back and told me to not do any walking and stay cool and relaxed. But on Boxing Day I wanted to get myself a Christmas present."

So Mr Goldsmith went into Worcester to do some shopping when, outside Woolworths on the High Street, he slipped and fell again.

He said: "I couldn't walk, but a couple from Wolverhampton who were with a man from Warndon helped me to go into Woolworths and top up my mobile phone."

The retired RAF serviceman was then carried to the Elgar statue, where the couple waited with him while their friend fetched his car and took him home.

He gave the man £15 petrol money, but said he also wanted to thank everyone who helped him.

He said: "I've had a rough time this week. I shouldn't have gone out but I just want to express my gratitude and thanks to all of them. I don't take people for granted. I came home and burst into tears."

Mr Goldsmith was one of 30 residents left homeless after a blaze destroyed a block of flats at Wheatfield Court, Callow End, in April 2004.

As a result of the incident, he temporarily lost the use of the left side of his body after he had two strokes.