SKIPTON has gone crazy for Pokemon Go – the free-to-play mobile app game that allows players to roam a map by using their phone's GPS location data to catch virtual creatures to train and battle.

It's become almost ridiculously popular in a very short time, with children – and adult players – the length and breadth of the country getting involved since it was released earlier this month.

It has proved a sensation with parents, too, helping to get kids out of the house and on to the streets to play a game that is a clever mix of the real world and virtual reality. By July 20, the game had been downloaded by more than 30 million people across the world.

Pokemon Go is a spin-off of the long-running Pokemon series, which started in the mid-1990s, and in which players capture and battle the creatures – the word Pokemon is short for 'pocket monsters' – in their quest to become the greatest Pokemon trainer in the world.

With Pokemon Go, unlike in the earlier video games, players move around the real world looking for Pokemon to capture.

Businesses throughout the country have seen an increase in footfall, and therefore potential customers, because of Pokemon hotspots – clusters of the virtual creatures – which can be found close by or actually in their shops and venues.

In Skipton, the V.SQ gin and champagne bar in Victoria Square and the Carphone Warehouse shop in Water Street have both quickly found they are in a 'hotspot' area.

V.SQ has been quick to recognise its new Pokemon Go status by putting up a sign, which says: "Turns out we're a Pokemon hotspot. Whilst you're at the gym, why not try a gin! Or, alternatively, 'Pokemon in and catch a Gin'!"

The bar's owner, Lorraine Forshaw, said: "Apparently, we're in a Pokemon gym area! Anything which increases footfall in Skipton has got to be good for all our businesses, so we're delighted."