Commuter chaos as petrol station gives away free fuel » Communities » 24dash.com

Drivers today gained some respite from the recent hikes in fuel prices after a garage decided to give away free petrol.

As part of a promotion for a new computer game, £20,000-worth of fuel is being given away free of charge.

Electronic Arts have taken over the Last Stop garage in Finsbury Park, north London, to promote the game Mercenaries 2: World in Flames.

By 7.30am this morning more than 150 customers had taken advantage of the offer, which allows drivers to put up to £40-worth of fuel in their tanks free of charge.

The promotion will continue until the £20k of fuel runs out, with security staff on hand to control the traffic and deal with rowdy customers.

Tempers were starting to fray as the rush-hour developed.

A queue of around 30 cars snaked its way from the petrol station as more and more customers arrived for their free fuel.

Car horns sounded repeatedly as drivers on the other side of the road got snarled up in the congestion.

But customers filling up for free were not concerned.

Prince Davis 37, who queued patiently for a quarter of an hour for 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 explained: "It's set in Venezuela, you play a mercenary and fuel is used as a currency."

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."

But one local resident was less than impressed with the stunt.

The woman, who did not wish to be named, 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."