An LGBT flag appearance during the Church of England’s General Synod has prompted an apology from the Archbishop of Canterbury.

As the Living in Love and Faith discussion draw to an end, a rainbow flag flashed up in the church’s YouTube live-stream of the debate.

“To those who are offended by that, I would like to apologise sincerely on behalf of the Church for what should not have happened,” Most Rev Justin said as he replied to member of the House of Laity, Amanda Robbie.

She had made an intervention to communicate to other members in the chamber that the Synod’s chair, William Nye, would be conducting an investigation into the flag’s appearance. She also requested a public statement once the investigation is concluded. 

Archbishop Justin continued: “I shall look forward to the outcome of the enquiry, but I do apologise”.

About an hour after the Archbishop's apology, Mr Nye made a point of order to confirm the investigation is being conducted. 

He said: " As Archbishop Justin said earlier, an investigation is underway into how this happened but the full investigation will take a little while. I'm ensured by the excellent audiovisual team from the Corporation of Church House, who run the livestream, that this was not a deliberate action by any member of staff.

"However, the only way to investigate fully what might have happened requires that the system be switched off and analysed and you'd appreciate that system cannot be switched off this afternoon. Staff in the AV team and the corporation are horrified that this has happened,  they join me in apologising for this incident. I commit to publishing the results of this investigation as soon as possible."