In early April, Angus became one of the first councils in Scotland to reconvene since the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic, having established virtual meetings to deal with council business.

But they were forced to pull the plug within minutes of the start of a special arrangements committee on Tuesday after indecent images appeared on the Zoom screen platform, along with a host of obscene messages posted by the cyber criminals.

Several different profiles appeared, though it's possible a single source was responsible for all them, according to an article in today's Courier.

Angus Council were forced to a halt an online meeting.

Council leader David Fairweather described the behaviour as “shocking”, telling the online meeting it “defies belief.”

The council’s legal chief, Jackie Buchanan, alerted administration chief Mr Fairweather to the inappropriate material.

Obscene messages appeared on the live stream, including one believed to be directed towards Angus Provost Ronnie Proctor.

IT staff made the decision to close down the meeting within minutes, and it resumed soon afterwards, with members of the public excluded.

At the end of proceedings, Arbroath Independent Mr Fairweather told the meeting: “It’s just a shame we had some idiots that decided to disrupt the meeting.

“It is certainly not welcome, and it is not clever.”

A council spokesman said: “Such behaviour is unacceptable, and we are looking at ways to eliminate this type of disruption from future meetings in a way that ensures those who are genuinely interested in local democracy can still participate.”

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Angus Council forced to halt online Covid-19 meeting after hijacker bombards it with indecent material

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