A publicity stunt by Nokia backfired today after a complaint was made to Westminster Council over noise pollution.

A team from Nokia’s PR agency cordoned off a section of the pavement in Broadwick Street, London, home to vnunet’s owners VNU Business Publications, and the National Magazine Company, which publishes Cosmopolitan.

They then set up a roped-off walkway that would allow passers-by to send text messages without bumping into people, while one member of the team used a loudhailer to promote a Nokia keyboard phone.

Unfortunately the team had set up directly below the window of ComputerActive, the UK’s best selling computer magazine, and the cacophony was so loud and annoying that staff were forced to call Westminster Council in an attempt to shut them up.

“Whichever cretin thought this one up needs their head examining,” said a senior member of the ComputerActive team.

“They must have realised this would be annoying. You wouldn’t believe how many angry hacks there are in the building at the moment.”

He added that while he himself used a Nokia phone he would shortly be switching to a Sony Ericsson.

When a member of the Nokia team was asked why they had set up the stunt outside the building they replied: “Because we can.”