London councillor accidentally causes fire during virtual meeting - BBC News
Tom Sleigh was trying to light a candle when his notepad went up in flames during an online meeting.
Tom Sleigh said he needed to plunge his burnt fingers into a cold sink

A London councillor accidentally set his notepad on fire while taking part in an online committee meeting.

Tom Sleigh was on a video call with the City of London Resource Allocation Sub-Committee when he ignited his papers in front of some 30 colleagues.

The Labour Party member said he had been trying to light a candle "but it accidentally ignited my notepaper" and he had "badly" burnt his fingers.

Nevertheless, his mishap seemed to go unnoticed and the meeting carried on.

The committee meeting was being streamed live online when the fire occurred.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Mr Sleigh said he was using a USB lighter to light a candle when things went awry.

He managed to put the flames out quickly but said he had badly burnt his fingers and he had "plunged them into a cold sink" afterwards.

However, he also saw the funny side, later tweeting: "Today didn't go as smoothly as I hoped."

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