Sub-postmistress urges people not to boycott post offices

Louth sub-postmistress Hannah Watkins is urging people to support their local Post Office

A Lincolnshire sub-postmistress is urging people not to boycott their local post office in protest at the Horizon software scandal.

ITV drama Mr Bates vs the Post Office, starring Toby Jones, has sparked renewed debate over the scandal.

Hannah Watkins, from Louth, said some people were showing their support by offering to boycott the service.

However, she said the vast majority of businesses were franchised and relied on income from customers.

Mr Bates vs the Post Office has sparked renewed debate over the scandal

Between 1999 and 2015, the Post Office prosecuted hundreds of sub-postmasters and mistresses after a faulty computer system called Horizon made it look like money was missing.

Many maintained their innocence and said they had repeatedly raised concerns about problems with the software.

However, some went to prison for false accounting and theft and many were financially ruined.

Speaking to BBC Radio Lincolnshire, Ms Watkins, who has worked at the post office in Louth for about 18 years, said: "It's all anyone is talking about at the minute.

"I'm in a couple of Facebook groups for sub-postmasters, and the general feeling across the network is customers are saying they are not going to use the post office any more.

"It's not against the staff, or anything like that, it's against the Post Office as an organisation."

Ms Watkins said a boycott would impact staff, not Post Office bosses

However, she said: "Whilst I understand the depth of feeling from the public, and obviously have the utmost sympathy for the victims, I would like to appeal to the public to continue to support their local post offices.

"Most offices are franchised, so boycotting them only hurts the sub-postmaster, not the Post Office itself.

"It would be completely detrimental," she added.

A public inquiry began in February 2021, and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told the House of Commons on Wednesday that those previously convicted in England and Wales would be cleared of wrongdoing and compensated under a new law.

Downing Street said its aim was to complete the process of overturning the convictions of those affected by the end of 2024.

The Metropolitan Police is investigating the Post Office over potential fraud offences arising from the prosecutions.

The Post Office previously said the public inquiry aims to get to "the truth of what went wrong" and added it would be inappropriate to comment on any police investigation.

A spokesperson for Fujitsu, the tech company that developed the Horizon system, said it recognises the "devastating impact on postmasters' lives and that of their families" and has "apologised for its role in their suffering".