THE creator of a new app which combines dating and social networking is hoping crowd-funding will take it to the next level.

Cheekyboo tells its users when someone else with the app is nearby, so that they can exchange messages before meeting.

The app, launched by Lower Parkstone man Ben Mitchell, has 5,500 local users and has been taken up by local radio station Fire.

A campaign at the crowd-funding website Kickstarter is raising money to develop an Android version of the app, which is currently available only for Apple devices. The target on Kickstarter is £20,000, to be reached by March 17.

Mr Mitchell said the app’s popularity had been boosted by the link with Fire.

“They’ve taken it on as their own dating service and rebranded it Fire’s Flirty powered by Cheekyboo,” said Mr Mitchell.

“Fire gets the use of something that would have otherwise cost them a fair bit of money and I get the exposure and the access to their users.

“It’s good publicity and advertising for my site. We’re up to 5,500 local users, so that’s increased quite significantly.”

The app was promoted at a launch party at The Brit in Lower Parkstone and is also being promoted by Bournemouth’s United Taxis.

Mr Mitchell devised the app in 2012 and devoted himself to promoting it full-time after taking voluntary redundancy from Barclays in Poole. He spent 10 months developing it with the company Tablish in Queens Road, Bournemouth.

Mr Mitchell said: “Everybody’s been really positive. That gives me the momentum to clearly push it forward. It’s my spur to keep going.”

The app shows users the location of other members within a 10-mile radius, along with their profiles.

Users can send each other a message and switch to one-to-one chat before agreeing to meet.