A group calling for the end of the Formula E events in Battersea Park has criticised environmental group Greenpeace for its involvement in the races.

The electric car racing event in June has attracted criticism from Save Battersea Park, who as a group object to its return next summer.

Now, they have turned their attention to Greenpeace, a campaigning organisation which focuses on issues such as climate change, defending the oceans and deforestation, after a promotional video of the event appeared through its YouTube channel.

The video features Paula, the Greenpeace polar bear, who appeared at the Battersea race and calls the event "perfect place to celebrate the end of the oil age".

Professor Paul Ekins from University College London, who received an OBE ‘for services to environmental policy’ in the New Year’s Honours List of 2015 said: "I have admired many of Greenpeace’s campaigns over the years, but they have got this one very badly wrong. In the right place Formula E can send a powerful message about the environmental benefits of electric vehicles.

"But trashing Battersea Park over three weeks this summer just shows that those promoting Formula E are more interested in the glitz and glamour of the event than in environmental sustainability.

"In supporting Formula E in this way, Greenpeace is giving the message that local environmental mutilation is somehow acceptable collateral damage.

"This is completely wrong and undermines the green credibility of everyone in favour of this event taking place in the park, including Greenpeace. It also risks tarnishing the image of electric vehicles as a whole.

"Having invited Greenpeace privately to reconsider their stance on this issue, and received an unsatisfactory response, we are challenging them directly on whether they care about urban green spaces in general and Battersea Park in particular or whether they are happy to see them destroyed by commercial events with doubtful green credentials."

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Barbara Stoll, senior campaigner for Greenpeace UK, said: "Greenpeace support Formula E as an important stimulus for the technological changes we need to tackle both climate change and the air pollution blighting the lives of tens of thousands of people every year, particularly in urban areas.

"Wandsworth Council’s impact assessment did not detail any significant environmental damage to the park from the event, but it's important that concerns from local people are heard, any disruption minimised, and access to green spaces protected as much as possible.

"We hope organisers and residents can sit down together and find a solution that satisfies both parties."