An oil-splattered BP engineer's boiler suit has become one of the most successful Halloween costumes in the United States.

More than 10,000 of the outfits have been sold in the approach to this year's October 31 holiday, which Americans are renowned for celebrating elaborately.

Its manufacturer claimed the success of the costume showed people across the US remained angry at the oil giant for its handling of the Deepwater Horizon disaster earlier this year.

An estimated 185 million gallons of oil were spilt into the Gulf of Mexico after an explosion in April on the BP rig, which also killed 11 workers.

"The Halloween business reflects the world we live in," said Alan Geller, the executive vice-president of Fun World. "We like to add a bit of social commentary to the celebrations."

"The holiday is about horror, and people are horrified at BP's actions," he told The Daily Telegraph. "Several lives and billions of dollars from people's livelihoods were lost."

Mr Geller said the New York firm, which also created the ghost mask used in the Scream films, had been inundated with orders for the costumes from shops and websites across the country.

He promised to donate some of the company's profits from the boiler suits to a charity aimed at helping people who had lost out due to the oil spill.

(Read by Renee Haines. Renee Haines is a journalist at the China Daily Web site.)

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(Agencies)