A county council meeting due to focus on hate crime in Hertfordshire was cancelled on Thursday (January 28), because of technology issues.

The county council had scheduled the 'topic group', to look particularly at the work of the Crime and Disorder Partnership.

And as part of that session a number of police officers had been due to give evidence in front of a panel of county councillors.

But – with less than 30 minutes to go – the planned 'virtual' meeting had to be cancelled because of IT issues at Hertfordshire Constabulary.

Those issues prevented members of police staff working remotely to access the necessary networks – making it impossible for them to join the meeting.

And a spokesperson for Hertfordshire Constabulary said: "We temporarily had access problems for people currently working remotely because of Covid.

"This has now been resolved, but unfortunately the timing clashed with the time of the meeting."

The county council say that without police involvement there would have been no witnesses.

And now, according to the county council, another date is to be arranged for the meeting, as soon as possible.

The Hertfordshire Crime and Disorder Partnership brings together representatives from organisations that include the county council, Hertfordshire Constabulary, the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner, the Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service and the health and probation services.