Images of British MP Nigel Mills playing popular mobile puzzle game "Candy Crush Saga" for over two-and-half hours during a key Commons committee hearing has gone viral .
The pictures of the Tory MP engrossed played the game on his taxpayer-funded iPad during a Work and Pensions Committee session on pensions were published exlusively by The Sun.
Despite the embarassment, Mills defended himself, saying that he "probably had a game or two" but he was "fully engaged."
The committee was discussing evidence on pension reforms with representatives of the pensions and insurance industries ahead of the Autumn Statement.
Mills, MP for Amber Valley, told the Sun: "There was a bit of the meeting that I wasn't focusing on and I probably had a game or two.
"I shouldn't do it but if you check the meeting I would say I was fully engaged in asking questions that I thought were particularly important in how we get the pensions issue right. I shall try not to do it in the future."
Candy Crush was the top downloaded free mobile app of 2013. Users must swipe the screen to match grids of brightly-coloured sweets to score points and pass different levels.
While it is a free-to-download app, users can pay extra for more moves to improve their score.
Video: British MP Engrossed in playing Candy Crush Saga
Twitter Reactions on British MP's Candy Crush Addiction
patrick mccafferty @mccaffepj
An MP caught playing Candy Crush in a pensions meeting says he will try not to do it again."That's the last pensions meeting I'll go to"...
Dave Birch @dgwbirch
If only Gordon Brown had played Candy Crush Saga instead of legislating on pensions
Highgate Politics @highgate_pol
A Conservative MP in the news for playing Candy Crush for 2.5 hours during a Select Committee hearing
matt evans @mattlou69
We save lives, conservative MP's tell lies and play candy crush in parliament. What a joke!!!!
Derek Turner @DerekTurner1964
Easy, even correct, to criticise Candy Crush-playing MP, but most of us would drift during so excruciating a meeting
