A SOUTH Ham computer whizz has defended himself after finding a loophole in the popular Pokemon Go game. 

Mark Gore, who moved to South Ham from Liverpool six years ago, has created a new ‘bot’ for the hugely successful Niantic game – which sees users of the game physically walk around cities and towns collecting Pokemon to earn points and battle other gamers in ‘gyms’.

This ‘bot’ means users no longer have to walk to find Pokemon, they can simply gather them from the desktop of their computer.

However, some view this programme as controversial as it means people no longer have to exercise or walk to get the creatures.

The game, which is based on the late 1990s nineties craze of Pokemon, has become a global hit and users of Mr Gore’s programme have now begun donating to the website in order to keep it running.

Mr Gore told The Gazette thousands of pounds had been donated since the game went live in the UK and believes the technology is not against the spirit of the game.

“I don’t think I’m spoiling people’s fun,” Mr Gore, 25, told The Gazette.

“If you look at the age bracket of people playing this game, it’s not all teenagers playing. There are a lot of people who work all day and don’t have the time to spend hours each day going out and catching Pokemon.

“They can run it for two hours a day at home and still have the same levels and therefore can take over gyms and compete with others to make it more fun.

“It’s not killing the fun at all.”

Hampshire Constabulary said it is not able to comment on the legality of Mr Gore’s website but said no complaints have been made to the force.

Mr Gore has received five separate pleas from solicitors acting on behalf of Pokemon Go urging the former computer science student to shut down the site.

He said that more than 24,000 people from across the globe, from as far away as the USA and Tokyo, access the website regularly and that exploiting the game’s system was “so easy”.

Computer specialists IT Managed Experts said it was unable to comment on whether Mr Gore’s actions were legal but said that his actions were “obviously unethical”.

A spokesperson for IT Managed Experts said: “Regarding desktop access, although a bit complicated this is clearly not impossible.

“But this is obviously unethical. 

“As this game becomes more popular, the developers [Niantic] will increase their efforts to make them less vulnerable and we might even see some specific legislation trying to stop people from using such workarounds.”

The Gazette has attempted to contact Niantic but has been unable to speak with the company.

But as the developers continue to try and safeguard its technology, Mr Gore has vowed to continue maintaining and running the ‘bot’ from his home.

“It’s nothing illegal,” Mr Gore added.

“If their server is insecure, it’s their fault. 

“Nobody has to donate to keep the site running so people can use it if they want."