Coca-Cola's "Fuel Your Passion" promotion lost its fizz this week after scores of people tried to claim prizes, only to be told that the redemption centre had run out.

The promotion, which began in February, involved collecting points printed on ring pulls and bottle tops which could be swapped for gifts ranging from drinking glasses and T-shirts to CD players and hi-fi systems.

But many people have been left with a bad taste in their mouths after supplies of some prizes ran out before the promotion ended yesterday.

Alma Sheikh, whose 12-year-old daughter Farah collected 125 points for a backpack, was furious when she went to Coca-Cola's redemption centre on Monday to claim the gift and left empty-handed.

"My daughter has spent quite some time collecting the points and was quite excited about receiving her prize," she said. "They said we could have drinking glasses instead, but she had set her heart on getting the backpack.

"She is very disappointed and I feel that Coca-Cola has let people down. If you have a prize promotion then you must make sure that you have enough stock to honour it." Farah managed to get her backpack yesterday after new stocks arrived, but others were not as lucky.

Ansar Ali, a 30-year-old Pakistani, was told that he would have to wait at least a month to receive the two cassette players he had saved up for. "The people at the counter said that I could take the glasses, or wait for more cassette players to arrive in a month or so."

Coca-Cola blamed the shortfall on the popularity of the promotion and said it would honour all prizes when it receives more stock. Public Affairs Manager Dana Mubaidan said "Across the Gulf we have distributed more than two million prizes to hundreds of thousands of consumers.

"Unfortunately, this has meant that during the closing stages of the promotion we have run short on one or two of the premiums for a limited period only. "But we are giving out vouchers to everyone who redeems their collected points so that everyone receives their chosen prize.

"We truly regret any inconvenience caused and promise that everyone who redeems their points within the stated time frame will receive a prize."

However some people said they had not been given a voucher to collect their gifts when the new stock arrives. Mohammed Hassan, 45, who works for a hotel in Bur Dubai, said he went to the redemption centre twice to collect prizes, but they had also run out of the vouchers.

"I went after calling the office and was told to come and collect the prizes. They didn't have them and they couldn't even give me the acknowledgement paper," he fumed.

Another disappointed parent, whose 10-year-old son had collected points for a cassette player, said, "It has taken him months to collect the points and now he has nothing to show for it. "They say they will have more in two months time, but I am not concerned about the cassette player, it's the principle that bothers me."