People wearing Pikachu hats take pictures of the parade by per-formers wearing Pokemon's character Pikachu costumes in Yokohama, Japan. [Photo/Agencies]

Wahby Park in St Clair Shores, Michigan, used to be a quiet spot for a dozen or so residents to go for a stroll around sunset. Then came hundreds of smartphone-wielding, garden-stomping Pokemon players.

Now a US couple in the lakeside neighborhood are suing Niantic Inc and Nintendo Co for allegedly turning the park into a nuisance and a safety threat.

"We don't feel safe sitting on our porch," Scott Dodich and Jayme Gotts-Dodich said in their lawsuit.

They said they have been threatened by Pokemon Go players who hide in the bushes at dusk and return to the chase after police close the park and leave.

The couple are seeking monetary damages and a ban on Pokemon in the park, according to their complaint filed on Wednesday in San Francisco federal court.

After the game was launched in early July, the "plaintiffs' once quiet street degenerated into a nightmare," according to the complaint. The couple allege that visitors to the park fail to respect the rules of the private neighborhood, parking in front of driveways, trespassing on well-manicured gardens and peering into windows.

Bloomberg