CITY of York Council has apologised after a staff member made an offensive gesture at a public meeting.

The incident happened at a meeting held at council headquarters West Offices on Monday at 10am, which was livestreamed on Youtube.

A council spokesperson said the member of staff has apologised to the person involved.

The gesture was made by a member of council staff during the public participation section of the meeting, while Cllr Kallum Taylor was speaking over the phone in support of proposals to list The Jubilee pub in Balfour Street as an asset of community value.

The video of the meeting was then removed from Youtube and the gesture was pixelated out, before the edited video was uploaded today.

A City of York Council spokesperson said: “We truly apologise for the inappropriate actions by one of our staff, which occurred in a recent public meeting.

"The individual has apologised to the person involved and is sincerely sorry for any hurt or offence that has been caused.

“Covid working practices are strange and sometimes disorienting.

"This doesn’t by any means defend this behaviour which does not reflect the character, hard work and commitment to the city of the individual or the important work undertaken to support the city in an incredibly challenging year.”

The meeting was a decision session for Cllr Nigel Ayre, the executive member for finance and performance. Cllr Ayre is not the person pixelated out of the video.

A council report says: "Decision related to consideration of editing the content of the webcast of the decision session – executive member for finance and performance held on 14 June 2021. 

“The reason for this is because the webcast contains an offensive gesture. The edit is that the offensive gesture has been pixelated. The sound is not affected by this edit.”