Prime Minister Julia Gillard appeals to “plankers” to put an end to the dangerous craze they are promoting.

Gilliard accounted that the death of Acton Beale, a young man in Brisbane, should serve as a warning to other practitioners of this internet-fuelled trend.

According to the police, Beale was trying to lie face down on the balcony railing of his unit when he accidentally lost footing and fell straight to the car park below. The polioce also said that alcohol was involved.

For 20 minutes, paramedics were trying to revive Beale right at the spot where he fell, but he never escaped death.

Planking involves participants lying flat on their stomach in different and most of the time hazardous settings and sharing photographs of their efforts on Facebook or other social media sites.

Facebook page titled Planking Australia boasts over 55,000 fans and holds hundreds of photos of people lying on train tracks, escalators, fire hydrants, motorbikes and other objects. These web-photos urged many participants of the craze in the recent weeks.

The Prime Minister described the sudden death of “planker” Beale as “really tragic”.

“There's a difference between a harmless bit of fun done somewhere that's really safe and taking a risk with your life,'' Gillard explained to reporters in an interview in Sydney.

“Everybody likes a bit of fun, but focus has to be on keeping yourself safe first,” said Gillard who sounded like a mother worried about the safety of her child.