The fourth instalment of the popular Grand Theft Auto video game has become the fastest selling title of all time in the UK.

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City sold more than 250,000 copies in its first weekend on sale, according to official figures from European Leisure Software Publishers Association (Elspa) and sales analysts ChartTrack.

The Playstation 2 game quickly sold out in many shops shortly after its release on Friday, suggesting sales could have been even higher.

It seems set to become the biggest-selling game of the year, following its sell-out release in the US earlier this month.

Violent nature

Vice City, by Rockstar games, is set in a fictional city modelled on Miami in the 1980s. In the game, you play a gangster called Tommy Vercetti, who roams the streets crossing the paths of all kinds of people.

Gamers plays a gangster called Tommy Vercetti

There has been some concern about the violent nature of the game, with parents worried that it may be sold to under-18s.

But this does not seem to have dented sales in the UK.

With sales in excess of 250,000, Vice City accounted for half of all the Playstation 2 titles bought this week.

It has easily broken the previous sales record, held by Metal Gear Solid 2, which sold 120,000 copies on release.

Analysts estimate that it is also the highest grossing consumer entertainment product of the week, with an estimated �10 million being spent on the game

Attention to detail

Its predecessor, Grand Theft Auto 3, remains a top seller. It is still the tenth best-selling game, despite being released more than a year ago.

Vice City has won rave reviews for its attention to detail in recreating the era of the 1980s.

The game features 80 different tracks from bands including Judas Priest, Blondie, Flock of Seagulls, Kool and the Gang, Hall and Oates, Grandmaster Flash, and Cutting Crew.

Voices are supplied by actors Miami Vice star Phillip Michael Thomas, Ray Liotta and Dennis Hopper, among others.