A “completely reckless” Welsh councilor has been accused of voting at a virtual Zoom council meeting while driving his car.
Councilor Andrew Wood was seen on camera entering the meeting from his car while sitting behind the wheel. He denies the accusation.
He appeared to take his hand off the wheel several times to vote, including while the vehicle was moving, before turning off the transmission.
Cllr Wood, independent for Gele and Llanddulas on Conwy council in north Wales, has been branded “reckless” by opposition councilors after the images emerged.
Councilor Andrew Wood has been accused of voting at a council meeting while driving his car.
Cllr Wood, of Abergele, is seen in the video using a device that appears to be attached to a vehicle-mounted bracket.
The car appears stationary at the start of the video and Cllr Wood is seen raising his right hand to vote on a motion at the meeting.
Then switch to your left hand, the side the device is on.
The car then begins to move and the councilor can be seen looking up at the screen several times while driving the vehicle.
He then raises his hand to vote a second time, before reaching out to adjust the device.
Video of the council meeting, available on Conwy Council’s YouTube page, appears to show Mr Wood with his hands off the wheel while driving.
Cllr Wood (third from left, top row) appeared to be driving his car when he raised his hand to vote.
He then proceeded to look at the device and attempted to adjust it before turning it off.
With the vehicle still moving, he raises his hand a third time before looking at the device again and appears to struggle with it for several seconds before the signal disappears.
The Zoom call was a meeting of the council’s Finance and Resources Scrutiny and Review Committee in July.
Opposition councilors have criticized his alleged actions as “completely reckless” and claimed they “could very easily have turned into a complete tragedy”.
People have reacted angrily online and the councilor is now facing calls to resign over the images.
An online petition has been created to pressure the councilor to resign.
Cllr Wood said: ‘I can tell you that I have not held a Zoom meeting while driving a vehicle. The only time I attended a meeting while he was in my vehicle was an audio meeting only.
‘I play it through my Bluetooth, other than that I have no idea because it has never been pointed out to me. I do not know anything about that.’
The meeting lasted more than two hours and was livestreamed before being uploaded to the council’s YouTube channel.
A spokesperson for Conwy County Council said: “We were not made aware of this matter until we received an inquiry yesterday.
“The Monitoring Officer will consider appropriate actions and will also remind all elected members of their individual responsibility to conduct themselves in accordance with the requirements of the Code of Conduct and the Members’ Protocol.”