Pokemon Go: Driver fined for playing game on mobile phone while behind the wheel

Police pulled over a 27-year-old man suspected of playing the game on his mobile phone while behind the wheel in Stourbridge.

The driver was stopped in Birmingham Street, near to the Stourbridge ring road, at 12.30pm yesterday. He was given a penalty ticket and reported to traffic process office.

Officers tweeted under the Stourbridge Police account: "Male caught Stourbridge ring road on mobile phone, we suspect Pokemon but the ticket will poke this mon #PokemonGO."

Lee Page, a spokesman for the force, said: "The incident happened at 12.30pm on Birmingham Street. A man was stopped while using his mobile phone and given a fixed penalty notice.

"Officers believe he was on the Pokemon Go application."

He added: "If people are driving while on your phone, it doesn't matter what they are doing with it, they can expect a fine."

It came on the same day it emerged a Pokemon Go player called 999 to tell police that someone had "stolen their Pokemon".

The gaming fan decided to contact Gloucestershire Police as an emergency while using the hugely popular app on the day after its UK launch.

Police gave the player "words of advice" on when it is appropriate to call 999.

The craze, which has reached fever pitch in the US, has sparked a string of incidents in the UK in the past week.

A security alert was triggered at Leicestershire Police headquarters on July 15 when players gathered at the site – and Nottinghamshire Police pleaded with users to consider others after two teenage boys accidentally spread fear among villagers in Normanton-on-Soar as they searched for Pokemon by torchlight in the early hours of July 12.

The app was only officially launched for all users on July 14, but some players had managed to get early access by working around country restrictions.

Three students had their phones stolen in a park Hulme, Manchester, on Saturday while they were using the app, after forces including Greater Manchester and Nottinghamshire Police warned users that criminals could use the app to draw in victims.

Four teenagers had to be rescued after getting lost in a mine complex for about six hours while hunting for creatures on the Pokemon Go phone app.

The boys, thought to be aged around 14 or 15, were only saved when they eventually managed to contact Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue from the bottom of a 100ft ventilation shaft at Box Mine, in Wiltshire.

The aim of the game is to capture, battle, and train virtual Pokémon who appear throughout the real world via the player's device's GPS system and camera.

It uses the location of the player's phone/device to pin-point where the nearest checkpoints, called PokéStops, and animated Pokémon characters are.

Gamers can be seen outside landmarks in places like Wolverhampton, where the fictional creatures from the cult cartoon and video game can be picked up.

Landmarks include the Express & Star's offices in Queen Street and the Man on the 'Oss.

Fictional gyms have also been set up at places such as Dudley Zoo, where players can go to battle with their creatures.