Investigation Over Candy Crush MP Photo

House of Commons bosses will investigate a whistleblower who filmed an MP playing Candy Crush on his iPad during a key meeting about pensions – but not the MP himself.

Nigel Mills was secretly filmed playing the addictive puzzle game during a Work and Pensions Committee session.

He has tweeted to apologise for his behaviour.

"I guarantee it will not happen again. It is a fantastic privilege to represent Amber Valley, and I hope constituents will continue to support my campaigns such as lower taxes for hard-working people," he wrote.

The House of Commons authorities have launched an investigation into how the footage was obtained.

A spokesman told Sky News: "This was a breach of the filming rules for House of Commons Committee Rooms, and will be investigated by the Serjeant at Arms."

The decision to investigate the witness who made the film rather than the MP sparked some criticism on social media.

Former Conservative MP Louise Mensch tweeted "that's bad" while Labour's John Prescott said Mr Mills' actions were "unacceptable".

The Sun quoted a source at the meeting who claimed Nigel Mills played the game for around two-and-a-half hours on an iPad allegedly funded by the taxpayer.

Mr Mills told The Sun: "It was a long meeting on pension reforms, which is an important issue that I take very seriously.

"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."

Prime Minister David Cameron said Mr Mills would be "embarrassed" by what had happened.

Speaking on a visit to Harris City Academy in Crystal Palace, south London, Mr Cameron said: "I haven't spoken to Nigel about it. I know he is a very hard-working MP, I know him well, he fights very hard in his constituency for people in Derbyshire, he works very hard in Parliament.

"I'm sure he will be embarrassed by what he saw in the papers today and he will work even harder in the future."

The committee met last Monday and was discussing pensions and the insurance industry ahead of the Chancellor's Autumn Statement announcement.

Candy Crush Saga is a free to download mobile game where users pay extra for more moves to improve their score.

It started on Facebook and moved on to mobile devices in 2012. Developer King.com says it is now played more than a billion times a day.