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Wales Online
Wales Online
National
Aaran Lennox & Molly Dowrick

Councillor accused of voting in online council meeting while driving his car

A Welsh town councillor has been accused of being "completely reckless" by dialling in to a Council meeting and raising his hand to vote - while allegedly driving his car.

Cllr Andrew Wood, an independent councillor who represents Gele and Llandullas on Conwy County Borough Council, appeared virtually at a meeting of the council's FInance and Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee on July 4, this year.

As reported by our sister site NorthWalesLive, a video of the meeting appears to show Cllr Wood raising his hand to vote while in what looks like a car. The trees behind him are initially stationary but then appear to start moving suggesting that the car Mr Wood is in has started driving.

Some people who attended the meeting have also claimed he later switched off his video feed while the vehicle was moving. You can watch a clip of the alleged incident in the video at the top of this article.

The Committee meeting, which lasted for more than two hours, was live-streamed and the video was later uploaded in-full to the council's YouTube channel.

Read more: 13 things we've learnt from the Welsh Government budget announcement

Opposition councillors have now dubbed his alleged actions as "completely reckless" with some saying Cllr Wood's behaviour could have turned into a "complete tragedy".

When asked about video footage from the meeting, Cllr Wood claimed he was not aware of any footage and could therefore not comment on it.

"I can tell you I have not done a Zoom meeting while driving a vehicle," he said. "The only time I have ever attended a meeting whilst in my vehicle would have been an audio meeting only.

"I play it through my Bluetooth, other than that I do not have a clue as it's never been pointed out to me. I know nothing about it."

A spokesperson for Conwy County Borough Council said: "We were not made aware of this matter until we received an enquiry yesterday [December 12]. The Monitoring Officer will consider appropriate action and also remind all elected members of their individual responsibility to conduct themselves in-line with the requirements of the Code of Conduct and Members Protocol."

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