Gloucester City Council has begun live streaming its meetings.

It means business owners and residents can now watch debates taking place over key decisions that affect them- from anywhere in the world.

Most meetings can now be observed live as they happen or watched later via YouTube.

Members of the public still have the legal right to attend and speak at council meetings in person but are requested to register their intent with the council first.

The council told Punchline in November it planned to start live broadcasting  its meetings from early this year.

It enacted the plans without fanfare two weeks ago and the first meeting to be streamed was cabinet on January 10.

A council spokesperson said: "The vast majority of Gloucester City Council meetings are now being live streamed.

"There's a piece on the homepage of the City website that gives information about it."

It now has five videos on its YouTube channel including last night's (Jan 25) full council meeting.

It is one of the last authorities in the county to start streaming its public meetings.

Gloucestershire County Council and the councils in Cheltenham, Stroud, Cotswolds and the Forest of Dean all already broadcast theirs.

Tewkesbury Borough Council revealed in June it was moving forward with plans to introduce webcasting for meetings.