POKÉMON Go gamers are being encouraged to “catch ‘em all” at a prominent East Lancashire venue.

The grade II-listed Haworth Art Gallery in Accrington has welcomed the world-wide smash reality game to its grounds and hopes it will boost visitor numbers.

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The gallery in Hollins Lane, has become a Pokémon “Gym”, a place where players can battle and train their Pokémon with other users.

Dozens of gamers have been seen roaming the nine-acre area in search of the colourful digital animals. Developed by Niantic, the location-based programme sees players capture the virtual beasts on their phones, which can be found anywhere in the real world.

Manager Yvonne Robins said she found out her gallery had become a gym when volunteer intern and resident Pokémon expert, Rachael Fielding, discovered there was several creatures hiding in the grounds.

She said: “I think it’s a brilliant game, you tend to think of people attached to a computer when playing but this one means you have to walk everywhere.

“Later on in the evenings, we’ve had a high number of young people visiting the grounds and exploring. It’s great, they get exercise, they get to see the beautiful gallery and its grounds, they get their Pokémon, it’s a win-win situation.

“Rachael told me the ground became a gym when a ‘lure’ was planted in the ground, which then attracted gamers to visit it. After a certain amount of people came it became a Pokémon gym, it’s very fascinating. Unfortunately I’m not an expert and we don’t have any real ones in the gallery.”

With more than 30million downloads, the game – based on the Pokémon franchise set up in the 1990s – saw shares in Nintendo rocket after its release. Ms Robins said: “It’s been amusing to see people running around the gallery looking for animals that don’t exist in real life.”

“But the gallery has a large range of different age groups coming in every day.

“We had almost a whole school attend after they finished for the summer.”