Electronic Arts has come under fire for its £20,000 petrol giveaway stung in London to promote the launch of Mercenaries 2: World in Flames. The publicity caused chaos as the Finsbury Park area as reported by the BBC on the scene, where the petrol station for the fuel giveaway promotion is situated, came to a standstill.

Local residents were unable to leave their driveways, let alone the are after traffic gridlocked for while motorists queued up from 06:30 when the promotion began to get their free £40 worth of fuel. Lynne Featherstone, MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, criticised EA as ’irresponsible and dangerous, saying, "Whilst a lucky few might have got free petrol, hundreds of residents have faced misery".

Security staff had to be called in to calm frustrated motorists and local residents. Louise Marchant, from Electronic Arts, said the scenes of queuing mimicked aspects of the game. "It’s set in Venezuela, you play a mercenary and fuel is used as a currency," she explained.

MP Lynne Featherstone certainly doesn’t disagree with Electronic Arts’ claim that the pandemonium represents the events of the game, but raises serious concerns as to the sanity and responsibility of the stunt.

"Trying to recreate Venezuelan-style fuel riots on the streets of London is completely irresponsible and downright dangerou," she said. "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."