Post Office boss under investigation, claims ex-chair

The former Post Office chairman has shocked MPs by claiming that the company's current chief executive Nick Read is under investigation.

Henry Staunton made the allegation at a hearing to discuss compensation payments to sub-postmasters at the centre of the Horizon scandal.

Alan Bates, the inspiration behind the ITV drama, told MPs the government needed to "get on and pay people".

The Post Office has been contacted for comment.

MPs were questioning a number of key figures about the pace of financial redress for thousands of sub-postmasters.

The MPs had been told by witnesses earlier in the day that an internal investigation was under way into Mr Staunton over his alleged behaviour while he chaired the company.

However, Mr Staunton alleged that there was actually an investigation into Mr Read.

He also claimed that within an 80-page document - a page of which he showed to MPs, with many lines redacted - it was said that Mr Read wanted to resign from the Post Office because he was unhappy with his pay.

Some 700 sub-postmasters were prosecuted by the Post Office for theft and false accounting between 1990 and 2015 after the Horizon IT system, developed by Fujitsu, made it look like there were shortfalls at branch accounts.

It led to what has been described as one of the most widespread miscarriages of justice in British legal history.

Thousands more pumped their own money into the Post Office shops they managed to cover discrepancies caused by Horizon.

Sub-postmasters are seeking compensation from the government, but Mr Bates said the government - which owns the Post Office - has failed to get a grip on the process of paying money to claimants.

"It's very disappointing," he said. "This has been going on for years, as you well know, and I can't see any end to it."

Mr Staunton, who was sacked as Post Office chair in January, said that compensation process had slowed right down until Mr Bates vs The Post Office was aired in January and re-ignited interest in the long-running scandal.