'Post Office stole our money and not given it back'
BBCA former sub-postmaster who was caught up in the scandal surrounding the Post Office's faulty IT system has said the business should be shut down.
Sally Stringer, who ran Beckford post office for 20 years, had to pay £50,000 from her life savings to cover false accounting problems caused by the faulty Horizon IT system.
She is one of 1,000 sub-postmasters, some of whom took their own lives, after being accused of stealing money from their accounts because the software indicated cash was missing.
An inquiry into the scandal has now concluded, having heard from 298 witnesses, received 780 witness statements and dealt with more than 2.2 million pages of disclosure.
Ms Stringer - who was one of the few not to face prosecution - is still waiting for promised compensation.
"At the end of the day, the government is culpable for this," said Ms Stringer. "It was a government company that stole money from their own employees.
"And now they're making it extremely difficult to get… the money back. It's scandalous."
A lawyer representing the Department for Business and Trade told the inquiry it accepted that "every day that postmasters and their families continue to wait for full and fair financial redress is a day too long".
He added that the department would continue making improvements to the compensation schemes.
'We were virtually bankrupt'
Ms Stringer said people had lost their livelihoods and their lives over the scandal.
"You can never rebuild what you've lost," she said.
"We were virtually bankrupt in Beckford and we got out.
"And actually it's the best thing I've done. I'm not ostracised any more, I can actually see a little bit of peace and quiet, which is something I couldn't down there."
But, she added: "I want the Post Office closed. I don't think it is fit for purpose any more."
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