A Chorley pub has become one of the only places where gamers addicted to viral phenomenon Flappy Bird can continue to play.

The game, which was pulled from distribution by its creator earlier this month, has since seen mobile phones on which the game is loaded going on sale for thousands of pounds, as desperate gamers clamour for it.

However, The Imperial, in Union Street, Chorley, has installed an arcade version of the game, thanks to a local computer whizz, who adapted the it to become coin operated.

Flappy Bird, described as the game users ‘hate to love’, was removed from online stores by its Vietnamese creator Dong Nguyen, who said its fame ‘ruins my simple life’.

Launched in May 2013, it was downloaded more than 50 million times.

But with Flappy Bird is no longer available for downloads, addicted fans need to look elsewhere for their fix.

Imperial customer Paul Jackson, 39, is the man behind the arcade version.

He said: “I have made and installed a couple of arcade machines in the Imperial in the past and was currently working on a new one to put in when the Flappy Bird phenomenon hit.

“The idea was based on it being taken off the App store. I figured it would give people the opportunity to still play it and also compete at it like old school Pac Man and Donkey Kong.

"I changed it to add coin op and a high score table but as I'd just made an app for App store and Google play called Bass Invaders, I figured this wouldn't be too big a task.

“I made the cabinet using a old flat screen monitor and set it up using the Android operating system, re wrote the game to add a score table and installed it in the Imp.”

Paul is now planning to add more simple games to it.

The Imperial will be giving prizes to Flappy Bird champions, starting with a King of Flappy Bird T-Shirt.