A young Northland man on his OE in the United Kingdom has died after falling five storeys from the roof of his flat in the English seaside town of Brighton.

Matthew Anderson, 19, was severely injured when he fell 20 metres from the building on Brighton's waterfront on Sunday afternoon.

Police believe he had gone up on the roof to smoke a cigarette.

His parents flew to the UK from Kerikeri to be at his bedside at Royal Sussex County Hospital where he died on Tuesday night (local time).

He had worked as a chef at the Moshi Moshi restaurant in Brighton and his boss Karl Jones told Brighton's The Argus newspaper that Matthew's organs had been donated to six people.

"Matt was fabulous," he said.

"He was a great, gangly guy. We have a very young team at Moshi Moshi and everyone is very upset. It's heartbreaking."

Friends also paid tribute to him on Facebook.

Andrew Marcantonio said: "Rest in peace Matt Anderson. I only knew you for four months but that was long enough to know what a genuinely nice guy you were. You will be sorely missed. It was a pleasure to know you and to count you as a friend."

A statement for the restaurant said: "He will be sorely missed by all the chefs he so enjoyed working with who all became good friends with Matt.

"As a team we are all devastated by the events, and thank everyone for the kind words offered to his family from New Zealand and his Moshi Moshi family."