The Post Office boss said it was of "deep regret" to him that the process was taking so long. He blamed bureaucracy, not prejudice or penny pinching. He said it was "astonishing" that it was his organisation managing some of the schemes, given the lack of trust people have in the Post Office.

CEO Nick Read said he was ‘surprised’ to find that there were 33 police investigations involving Post Offices in June this year

There can be few – if any – projects more important to the future of the Post Office than the replacement of the controversial Horizon IT system at the heart of the scandal that led to the UK’s most widespread miscarriage of justice.