Puma, the official sportswear brand of the Jamaican athletics team, has come under fire from anti-gun campaigners in London over its latest range of shoes which bear the image of a Thompson sub-machine gun.

The German company defended the 'Bonnie and Clyde' shoes modelled on the 1967 film about the two American outlaws as a "work of art". Four hundred of the limited edition shoes are to be sold in 10 countries including 24 in the United Kingdom.

"I don't know if I am the only person sickened by this, but I feel Puma are exploiting the impressionable younger generation and glamorising violence for profits ... what next guns on baby shoes," said Chiara Edwards, a north London youth worker, who works with victims of gun violence.

Puma had co-opted 'brand Jamaica', athletes and entertainers, to revive the company's flagging profits before it abandoned its involvement, in dancehall, in 2004 after coming under pressure from gay rights groups.