Squirrel invades London Assembly during meeting

Oct. 11 (UPI) -- A squirrel put in an unexpected appearance Thursday during a meeting of the London Assembly's environment committee meeting.

The squirrel was caught on video by committee employee Giles Broadbent as it ran around the assembly chamber while a committee meeting was in session.

Witnesses said the squirrel ran in and out of the room about six times.

"It was a rare and delightful visitor -- there were some school children that came in to watch some of the dealings in the chamber and they were obviously more distracted by him," Broadbent told the London Evening Standard.

"He was quite a plucky little thing, as well -- he came in and out maybe six or seven times and scurried around," Broadbent said. "It did seem particularly apt as we were talking about the impact of Heathrow so that was the best committee for it to choose, really."

The Aviation Environment Federation, a campaign group promoting green aviation policies, shared a photo of the squirrel snapped by a member who was present at the meeting.

Caroline Russell, who was attending the meeting as the Green Party councilor for Highbury, joked the squirrel "wanted to make sure there was a voice representing the natural world at the meeting."