AN APP-based game developed in Carlisle by a team which sought backing from Sir Richard Branson is set to close.

Geo Hitch will shut down tomorrow, less than a year after it was set up.

It was jointly created by businessman Jonathan Lowe, who was born in the city and wanted the game to become a global success.

In a statement to the game's fans, Geo Vim, the company behind the app which Mr Lowe is chief executive of, said it was unable to develop the features needed to take it forward.

It continued: "We’d love to keep the app alive but, as we all know, things cost money and further resource to do so.

"We’ve thought long and hard about this decision but we feel the time is right to close the app with the view of bringing the concept back in the future."

"Our initial idea was to run the game and develop the features as the community grew," the statement continued.

"As time progressed, and with a number of other projects starting, we felt we didn’t have the right resources to put behind Geo Hitch. At this stage, rather than do a third rate job we'd prefer to bow out."

Geo Hitch saw people physically travelling to locations where virtual hitchhikers had been placed.

They then 'picked them up' using the GPS signal on their device and transported the character to a drop-off point, where another user could pick them up.

Points were calculated using algorithms, which measured the length and speed of the journey, and whatever items were in the hitchhikers' backpacks.

This was based around the hobby geocaching, which sees people travel to sites using a GPS system to find physical objects. The app replaced the object with user-created characters and it was downloaded by more than 1,500 people.

Mr Lowe entered the app into last year's Virgin Media Business VOOM competition for startups and pitched to a panel of experts but it did not make it through for the final pitch directly to Sir Richard.