Studio settles 'bomb scare' claim

The Mission Impossible tune is one of the best-known themes

A Hollywood studio has paid $75,000 (£37,700) to settle negligence claims after a film marketing stunt sparked a series of bomb scares last year.

Paramount Pictures fitted 4,500 LA newspaper vending machines with devices that played the Mission Impossible III theme whenever the door was opened.

Some people mistook the devices for bombs and reported them to police.

The studio, the Los Angeles Times and Allied Advertising agreed to pay the settlement without admitting fault.

The Veterans Affairs Medical Center in West Los Angeles was evacuated for 90 minutes after someone spotted a 6ins (15 cm) red plastic box attached to a newspaper dispenser by wires.

And a Los Angeles County arson squad blew up an LA Times news vending machine in the Californian city of Santa Clarita.

The matter was settled out of court, after the US attorney's office sent a letter to Paramount and the LA Times saying it intended to sue.

Spokesman Thom Mrozek said the money would be used to compensate Veterans Affairs for the disruption at the hospital.