Post Office scandal: Woman from Cornwall 'destroyed' by accusations

Ms Williams said she still felt "bitter" about being wrongly accused of stealing £20,000

A former Post Office branch manager said false accusations of stealing £20,000 "destroyed" her.

Penny Williams, who ran a Post Office on the Lizard in Cornwall for six years, said her world came crashing down when she was bankrupted in 2014 due to the faulty Horizon IT system.

On Tuesday the former Post Office boss Paula Vennells handed back her CBE following a massive public outcry.

Ms Williams now runs a successful business making and selling pies.

Mr Bates vs the Post Office: The Real Story is available on ITVX

The Post Office Horizon scandal led to more than 700 people being prosecuted after faulty software made it look like money was missing.

What happened between 1999 and 2015 is now in the spotlight following the ITV drama Mr Bates vs the Post Office.

Ms Williams said: "It needs to be recognised. What happened to us, you know.

"The day before the Post Office came I was fine, the day after the Post Office came, and for the next two or three years, I was destroyed, and the other people are exactly the same."

Ms Williams added: "I feel quite bitter I suppose... you can't function in a community where so much talking is going on and just, I just felt so dreadful."

Some sub-postmasters wrongfully went to prison, many were financially ruined and forced to declare bankruptcy - and some have since died.

The Metropolitan Police is investigating possible fraud offences arising from the prosecutions and a public inquiry into the scandal is ongoing.

'Unprecedented approach needed'

The government is now facing increasing calls to bring forward emergency legislation to deal with the scandal and ministers said they would introduce plans to speed up the process "shortly".

The former justice secretary, Sir Robert Buckland, said the situation merited an "unprecedented approach".

Sir Robert said: "Perhaps there should be a presumption that all those people who were convicted are in fact not guilty.

"We could go further and simply quash the convictions and render them absolutely void, so that then we're in a position whereby the sort of complications that are hitting the compensation process can be avoided."