It has become known as one of the most widespread miscarriages of justice in UK history.

And now a Norfolk MP who spent half a decade as a sub-postmaster has said the “web of deceit” spun by the Post Office in the Horizon scandal is finally being unravelled.

Between 1999 and 2015, the Post Office wrongly accused thousands of operators of sub-post offices across the UK of theft and fraud based on information from its IT system, Horizon.

The centralised accounting system was installed to speed up processes in the late 1990s, but errors in the software made out money was missing from sub-postmasters’ branches.

Eastern Daily Press: North Norfolk MP Duncan Baker, who worked as a sub-postmaster at branches which were part of Budgens stores in Aylsham and Holt, has asked prime minister Rishi Sunak to strip Post Office chief executive Paula Vennells of her CBE.North Norfolk MP Duncan Baker, who worked as a sub-postmaster at branches which were part of Budgens stores in Aylsham and Holt, has asked prime minister Rishi Sunak to strip Post Office chief executive Paula Vennells of her CBE. (Image: Newsquest)

Around 3,500 were wrongly accused of taking money from their businesses, with 736 being prosecuted by the Post Office despite protesting their innocence.

Despite the high court finding Horizon at fault in 2019, to this day just 93 convictions have been overturned.

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North Norfolk MP Duncan Baker, who worked as a sub-postmaster at branches which were part of Budgens stores in Aylsham and Holt, has asked prime minister Rishi Sunak to strip former Post Office chief executive Paula Vennells of her CBE.

Vennells was chief executive of the Post Office from 2012 to 2019 and during that time she collected more than £4.5m in pay - including £2.2m of performance-related bonuses.

More than one million people have signed a petition calling for her to lose her CBE following the release of the ITV drama Mr Bate vs the Post Office.

Eastern Daily Press: North Norfolk MP Duncan Baker, who worked as a sub-postmaster for half a decade in Aylsham and Holt, winning an award for the Aylsham Budgens Post Office at the 2015 Retail Industry AwardsNorth Norfolk MP Duncan Baker, who worked as a sub-postmaster for half a decade in Aylsham and Holt, winning an award for the Aylsham Budgens Post Office at the 2015 Retail Industry Awards (Image: Duncan Baker)

“I have said to Rishi Sunak he ought to write to the Honours Forfeiture Committee with a recommendation that they should investigate the stripping of Paula Vennells of her CBE,” Mr Baker, who was a sub-postmaster between 2014 and 2019, said.

 “Sup-postmasters are pillars of the community. They are decent people who members of the community often turn to for help and support.

“So, to have 3,500 of them accused of embezzling money is just absolutely appalling.

“It was an out and out lie and finally this total web of deceit is being unravelled. I hope that everybody involved, from Fujitsu [the IT firm behind the Horizon system] to the Post Office and the lawyers who were paid huge amounts of money to prosecute innocent people, pay for what they have done.”

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Justice Secretary Alex Chalk and postal minister Kevin Hollinrake met on Monday (January 8) to discuss the scandal.