AN ACCIDENT is bound to happen if youngsters keep crossing busy Halstead roads while distracted by a new mobile phone craze, it is feared.

Children from Ramsey Academy have been seen crossing Colchester Road in Halstead without looking, as they were concentrating on the new Pokemon Go game.

The game uses a phone’s GPS to pinpoint locations where monsters can be caught.

Andrea Lewis, from Pear Tree Close, saw four schoolchildren laughing and joking in the middle of the road about the game.

She said: “They came down from the cemetery and they just started walking across, I was too shocked to say or do anything.

“They were only about 11 or 12-years-old, it was scary as every single one of them was laughing and stopping, they weren’t concentrating at all. There’s no lollipop lady on that part of the road; she is further down.

It was crazy, somebody is going to get hurt. There were a lot of cars as it was about 3pm. I didn’t see a single one of them look up to see if any cars were coming.”

The game has proved to be a huge hit amongst the younger generation since it was released in the UK last week.

Mrs Lewis added: “I didn’t realise how big it was until Friday when I witnessed that. I remember when it was just the cards people collected.”

Pokémon were first popular in the 1990s when they started on the Nintendo Game Boy, and Pokémon trading cards were popular in school playgrounds.

Shirley Diver, town mayor, said schools needed to issue safety warnings.

She said: “Children look at their phones without looking where the are going, they are in their own little world.

“I do think the school should put a warning out about it – I have heard about people doing emergency stops because Pokemon have been seen.

“It’s dangerous for everybody; we need to ask the schools to make sure parents are aware as no-one wants anybody to be hurt.”

Ramsey Academy has written to parents stating: “As the app requires you to focus on your phone to play the game, there is the potential that players may be distracted when crossing roads or put themselves in harm’s way to capture Pokémon in different areas.”

The warning also mentioned ‘stranger danger’, saying pupils should never meet someone they do not know.