Westport, Feb 8 NZPA - A woman charged over a hit-and-run death in Westport on Saturday has been freed on bail, upsetting the dead man's family who say she should be in custody.

James Hill, 21, died when he was struck by a car about 5.40am on Saturday near the corner of Rintoul and Peel streets.

A 21-year-old woman handed herself in to police on Sunday afternoon and was charged with failing to stop to provide assistance.

She was released on bail and would appear in Westport District Court tomorrow.

The woman and Mr Hill were believed to have been at the same party before his death.

Mr Hill's father Colin said his family was devastated at the death, The Press reported.

He was upset the woman had been granted bail and said she should be in police custody.

But West Coast area commander Inspector John Canning said it would be very difficult for police to object to bail on the current charge alone.

"If there are more serious charges, at that point, we may be in a position to oppose bail," he said.

"We have got to wait until we get the information from the ESR (Environmental and Science Research) and from the pathologist and things like that, and then we're going to have to decide what evidence there is and what charges should be laid."

The post-mortem would take place today in Christchurch.

Mr Canning said the pathologist would shed more details on what had happened, including if Mr Hill had been lying down or standing when he was hit.

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