'Irresponsible' £20,000 petrol giveaway causes rush-hour queuing chaos

Commuters near the Last Stop garage in Finsbury Park were trapped in their homes, after a computer games company took over the station during the morning rush-hour.

Electronic Arts was apparently attempting to recreate scenes from its game Mercenaries 2: World in Flames, in which players take on the role of a mercenary in Venezuela following a military coup in which petrol has become currency.

A road in Finsbury Park, North London is blocked by queuing motorists eager to take advantage of the offer of free fuel - courtesy of a computer games company

Motorists queued to receive up to £40 worth of free fuel, bringing residential streets to a standstill.

But the stunt, which was set up to promote a new computer game, has been branded 'irresponsible and downright dangerous'.

More than 500 motorists blocked up a busy road as they sought to take advantage of the generous offer.

The result was rush-hour gridlock as  traffic was held up by drivers looking to fill up for free.

Angry residents near the Last Stop garage in North London were trapped in their homes unable to get to work as traffic came to standstill.

EA decked out the garage, which lies between Stroud Green and Finsbury Park, in military camouflage material and parked an army jeep on the forecourt.

Assistants dressed as soldiers carried mock machine guns as they doled out petrol to the customers.

One commuter had to be calmed down by the EA security team as he waited for ten minutes just to get out of his drive.

A woman who lives near the garage said: '

What an extraordinary thing to do, it's totally irresponsible. I can't believe they've been allowed to do it.

'This area is usually very quiet but look at it now, there's cars queuing everywhere. It's just creating unnecessary problems.'

But customers filling up for free were not concerned.

A model poses as one of the characters from the new game developed by EA, which set up the 'free fuel' stunt

Prince Davis 37, who queued patiently for a quarter of an hour for his free petrol, said:

'This is a genius idea, whoever thought of this should be promoted.

'I'll definitely be buying the game, you're never too old to play computer games.'

Louise Marchant, from Electronic Arts, said the scenes of queuing mimicked aspects of the game.

She denied the promotion was irresponsible, saying: 'We've got security on hand to make sure that traffic is going one way.

'Petrol prices are very relevant at the moment so we are hoping to start everyone's weekend in a positive way.'

The average price for petrol in August was 112.8p per litre and 124.3p per litre for diesel.

David Slade of Shine Communications explained the idea of giving away free fuel was based on a story line mirrored in the game.

Lizzie Jay-Hughes poses by a petrol pump as part of the marketing stunt

He said: 'The game's based around two mercenaries in Venezuela fighting against the oil barons and using fuel as currency.'

'When the time came to promote the game we thought this was the best way to get people's attention.' 

One of the major stumbling blocks for the organisers was to find a venue willing to host the stunt.

He said: 'I'm afraid I can't tell you how much we had to pay the petrol station to let us do this.'

"The location was random but we needed an independent petrol station to allow us to do it. We've set the place up with sand bags and camo nets to set the scene.

'We're giving away £20,000 - £40 each motorist. So that's 500 cars that got free fuel this morning.' 

The promotion will continue until the £20,000 of fuel runs out.

But Liberal Democrat MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, Lynne Featherstone, said:

'Trying to recreate Venezuelan-style fuel riots on the streets of London is completely irresponsible and downright dangerous.

'Whilst a lucky few might have got some free petrol, hundreds of local residents have faced misery on their daily journeys this morning.

'They deserve an apology for being the victims of such an ill-thought out media stunt.'

Motorists who had become snarled up in the congestion, beeped their horns in frustration as they made their way past the queuing traffic at a snail's pace.