Aping the Masquerade book and related treasure hunt of the 1980s, app developer Candid Innovations is claiming to have buried £2,000 worth of gold sovereigns somewhere in the UK, and has hidden clues to the location inside an iPhone application.

There's no word on what that app may be, or when it will be released, but the company has posted a YouTube video in order to promote the fact, so more details are expected imminently.

The developer has got two current iPhone apps on iTunes to its name; Ultimate Air Guitar and The Grapevine, with the latter offering localised buying of selling of things such as concert tickets. The former is, perhaps, self-explanatory.

Of course, older readers will remember Kit Williams' Masquerade, an illustrated book with each picture giving away a cryptic clue which, when added to all the other clues, pointed to the location of a buried golden hare. However, its legacy was marred somewhat by scandal, as the winner of the much-publicised treasure hunt was eventually revealed to have been a fraud.

Let's hope Candid Innovations knows what it's letting itself in for.

Update: Candid Innovations have come clean with the treasure hunt details. Clues are hidden within The Grapevine app.

After assuring people that the prize is real, Candid stated:

"Yes, The Grapevine is an app for buying and selling stuff, but…we decided to conceal a series of devilish clues within the app, that will lead you to the location of £2,000 of buried gold.

"The first clue is pretty easy to spot, but be warned they are going to be very tough to solve. Don’t worry though, amongst our normal tweets on twitter, we will also occasionally be dropping subtle hints relating to the clues that might make them easier to solve if you know what to look for."

The app is £1.99 and can be downloaded from the App Store now.

Will you be interested in the treasure hunt, or do you think it's a load of baloney? And did you buy a copy of Masquerade back in the day? Let us know in the comments below...