Post Office scandal: 'Horizon is still a flawed system'

A Perthshire postmistress says she is still having to make up shortfalls from the Horizon software system at the centre of the Post Office scandal.

Marlene Wood has run the post office in Comrie for almost five years, but she is now in debt and the business is up for sale.

Last month she repaid a £414 discrepancy from her own money back to the Post Office.

She said Horizon was "still a flawed system", despite reassurances.

More than 900 Post Office workers were prosecuted for theft and false accounting over a number of years based on evidence from faulty software system Horizon.

The scandal has been described as the biggest miscarriage of justice in UK history.

The four-part ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office has renewed mass public interest in the scandal like never before.

Ms Wood told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme: "There are still discrepancies. It's still Horizon we are using, albeit we've been reassured that it has been looked into and made more robust.

"But any kind of rhetoric that comes from Post Office has to be taken with a pinch of salt.

"I would not trust it."

She said the Post Office was "not quite as hard" in pursuing shortfalls as before, but the thought of appealing the shortfall was still daunting.

"You don't know what repercussions you'll perhaps have from that," she said.

"The treatment that we get today, while it may not quite be as punitive in the Mr Bates programme, it is still happening."

Ms Wood said postmasters an postmistresses were still apprehensive of the weekly balancing day.

She said: "If you speak to any postmaster and ask them what kind of day a Wednesday is they'll tell you exactly what the impact is.

"When you press that button to see what the final balance is, it very, very rarely comes up and tells you there are no variances in the system."

She said she was now in a difficult position having to sell the business as she loved her job.

She said: "The reality is that today my retail side of the shop is paying for my post office. I can't get away from that.

"I don't get a salary, I don't get a wage.

"I get paid every time someone brings in a return that they've bought online.

"I'd have to process 36 of those parcels to get one hour's national minimum wage."

A Post Office spokesperson said: "We are very sorry to hear of the experience our postmistress for Comrie Crieff is having.

"Our area manager has visited her to understand the issues and talk through the support that is available which could make a difference to her situation and we are following this up."