Pokemon Go Teens 'Risked Lives' On Old Pier

A group of “extremely irresponsible” teenage boys said they were looking for Pokemon Go characters after getting caught out by a fast-rising tide.

Weston-super-mare's volunteer lifeboat crew were alerted shortly before 9pm on Thursday about the six boys, who had been hunting for the virtual creatures at the unsafe Old Pier on Birnbeck Island in Somerset.

Police, fire brigade and local coastguard teams were also dispatched to the landward side of the pier, in case the teens became trapped.

As the lifeboat crew launched two boys were spotted wading back to the shore, with the tide rising rapidly to chest height.

Before the lifeboat could enter the water the teens scrambled their way back to shore.

The crew then noticed four other boys walking along the pier's unsafe walkway.

Once the teens made it back to shore the group told police they had been searching for Pokemon Go characters.

No-one was injured in the incident, the RNLI said.

Crew member Chris Lyons said: "It is great to see people getting out and about enjoying themselves, however, putting your life in danger trying to catch Pokemon is extremely irresponsible.

"In Weston the tide comes in so quickly, in seconds you can be in life-threatening danger."

He added: "I would like to say please if you do see a Pokemon either on the rocks or in the muddy areas of Weston bay, don't put yourself into a position where you could become stuck.

"The water is unforgiving, it doesn't give you a second chance whereas a game will."

The Birnbeck Regeneration Trust has said that the Old Pier walkway is in a "severe state of decay" and that the boys could have fallen through it.

The trust added that it had contacted Pokemon Go maker Niantic to get the pier removed from the game.

It said: "Contrary to any statements on other social media pages, no one at Birnbeck Regeneration Trust tagged the pier as a Pokestop, this was totally out of our control and was done automatically by Niantic."

The incident comes a day after three teenage girls walked into the sea near Hastings pier to catch Pokemon Go characters.

Police officers intervened to stop the girls, who were fully-clothed when they went into the sea.