Creative Commons

Councillors tried to hold a virtual meeting to discuss improvements to a roundabout, but it was almost scuppered when trolls interrupted by playing gay porn.

Members of South Somerset District Council held the virtual meeting yesterday (April 8) through Zoom to discuss road improvements in Yeovil, Somerset Live reports.

The public was invited to participate in the meeting, but some trolls decided to dial into the call to share adult material.

Two users trolled councillors with gay porn during the virtual meeting.

Two users entered the call with the nicknames “Ben Dover” and “Mike Coxlong” and directed expletives at staff. On one occasion during the call, porn could be heard playing in the background.

In the middle of a presentation on planned changes to the roundabout, one of the users sent a photo of two men kissing.

If we can get this right and perfect, I think this is the way forward with meetings.

The situation reached a head when one of the users reportedly posed as councillor David Gubbins. Councillor Peter Seib said he removed one of the users from the call following the incident.

Gubbins said that if the trolling continued he would suspend members of the public from accessing the call and “take this up with the police”.

However, the councillors were able to get the hecklers under control by the end of the call.

Despite the hecklers, councillors said they will go ahead with another virtual meeting next week.

Speaking at the conclusion of the virtual meeting, Gubbins said: “When you see how many hecklers we’ve had – I’d call them something else, but hecklers for now – it’s clear word has got around about this debate.

“If we can get this right and perfect, I think this is the way forward with meetings. It gives the public more opportunity to hear the debate.

“There are currently 47 people in this meeting. That’s a pretty good attendance for area south.”

Meanwhile, councillor Dave Recardo asked that an IT specialist take part in the next virtual meeting to help ensure that similar incidents do not occur again.

“Today’s interferences from the public have been unwelcome and I don’t want to see it again,” he said.

Another virtual meeting is planned for April 15.