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Roch postmaster among those still seeking compensation
THE POST OFFICE has spent more than £600 million of public money continuing to use the discredited Horizon IT system—despite accepting more than a decade ago that it needed replacing.
New documents reveal that then Prime Minister Tony Blair and senior Labour ministers were warned as far back as 1999 about serious flaws in the original £548 million deal with Fujitsu. A Treasury memo at the time flagged that the Post Office would not own the core computer code, leaving them locked into the supplier and vulnerable to spiralling costs. Officials warned Fujitsu could use the situation to 'drive a costly settlement.'
Since then, the total spent on Horizon contracts has reached £2.5 billion, including £600 million spent since 2012 when the Post Office first admitted it needed to move on from the system. Replacement efforts have repeatedly failed, with a £40 million IBM project abandoned in 2016 and another attempt scrapped in 2022.
Former Roch postmaster: Tim Brentnall
The latest replacement project—an internal system called New Branch IT (NBIT)—has run into delays and ballooning costs, with estimates now topping £1 billion. Despite past failings, the Post Office and Fujitsu are expected to remain in partnership until at least 2030.
The scandal surrounding Horizon continues to grow, following the wrongful prosecution of over 900 sub-postmasters. Although private prosecutions based on Horizon data were halted in 2015, campaigners say the damage done is still being felt by victims across the UK—including here in Pembrokeshire.
One of them is Tim Brentnall, who was just 22 when he and his parents bought the Roch Post Office. In 2010, he was prosecuted after a £22,500 shortfall appeared in the accounts—despite doing nothing wrong. Advised to plead guilty, he received an 18-month suspended sentence and 200 hours of community service. His conviction was quashed in 2021.
Earlier this year, Brentnall told the BBC he was 'in disbelief' after being offered less than 17% of the compensation he had claimed. The offer came with a 50-page letter rejecting much of his legal and forensic case, and over 15,000 documents to sift through. He is now re-submitting the claim.
'There are people far older than me who should be enjoying their lives now,' he said. 'Instead, they're still fighting. People are dying without seeing justice. It's not right.'
The Post Office says it is 'fundamentally changing' as an organisation and has paid out more than £768 million to over 5,100 people affected by the Horizon scandal. However, many victims and campaigners say the compensation process remains slow, unfair, and deeply distressing.
Postal minister Gareth Thomas recently confirmed a further £276.9 million in government funding for the Post Office, including £136 million for future IT projects. He said the continued use of Horizon reflected 'past underinvestment' and that postmasters needed better tools going forward.
A spokesperson for Tony Blair said the former PM took concerns over the Horizon contract seriously at the time and acted on independent advice. 'It is now clear the Horizon product was seriously flawed. Mr Blair has deep sympathy for those affected.'
A separate 1999 memo was also sent to then-Chancellor Gordon Brown, but a spokesperson for Mr Brown said he would not have seen it and had no involvement in awarding the contract.
Despite public statements about reform, doubts remain over whether NBIT will ever be delivered—and whether true justice will ever be achieved for those whose lives were torn apart by the Horizon scandal.

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EXCLUSIVE Subpostmistress remembers 'terror' of supporting her young children during the Horizon IT scandal on new Mail podcast
EXCLUSIVE Subpostmistress remembers 'terror' of supporting her young children during the Horizon IT scandal on new Mail podcast

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time17 hours ago

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EXCLUSIVE Subpostmistress remembers 'terror' of supporting her young children during the Horizon IT scandal on new Mail podcast

Former subpostmistress Pamela Church revealed she suffered panic attacks and felt as though she'd 'let everyone down' after going bankrupt due to the Horizon IT scandal on a new Mail podcast. On the latest episode of 'The Apple & The Tree', Pamela, 47 told daughter Rebekah Foot, 28, of her experience losing everything after becoming embroiled in what is seen as the largest miscarriage of justice in British history. The podcast, hosted by the Reverend Richard Coles, brings together parents and their adult children to answer questions about their shared family history. The Horizon IT scandal was a faulty Post Office computer system that falsely showed financial shortfalls at branches across the country. The fault led to over 700 subpostmasters being wrongfully prosecuted and convicted for theft and fraud between 1999 and 2015. 'I remember being seen as a pillar of the community', Pamela said. 'But once all that happened, everyone thought we were dodgy. We were shut down in 2015. 'It bankrupted me. I tried to keep as much of it away from my children as possible, but I started suffering really bad panic attacks.' The mother-of-three recounted collapsing in the toilet in front of her young daughter due to the stress of being pursued for tens of thousands of pounds. The technical fault potentially affected as many as 25,000 postmasters, yet fewer than 2,500 have been compensated. She told the podcast: 'It got to a really bad point where I could not carry on. I felt like I was a massive letdown. 'I'd had this massive panic attack – I was in the bathroom. My young daughter saw me on the floor and then took herself to school. 'My daughter told the school's receptionist: 'Mummy's poorly, she's not well and I can't live without her. 'After that, I went to the doctors, and they proscribed me fluoxetine. It stopped the panic attacks, and I started seeing a future again. 'But everything had been taken away: I was bankrupt, I had no money, no business – at least I still had my children and my partner. They set me up to go forward.' Pamela remembered noticing something was wrong when she ran both the old and new bookkeeping systems at her north Wales Post Office and discrepancies of thousands of pounds appeared. Despite her protests, the Post Office threatened to seize her business unless she made up the shortfall. 'My first panic attack, £10,000 had gone missing out of the Post Office and they phoned me up and told me I had to pay it. 'They said if I didn't, they'd take my business away from me. I couldn't breathe. I felt like I was going to die. 'I collapsed with my daughter Evie in my arms. When I woke up, I saw my daughter playing in a pool of my blood.' The truth about the scandal emerged through persistent legal action by subpostmasters who took the first High Court case against the Post Office in 2019, securing a £43 million settlement. It gained widespread public attention in January 2024 after the ITV drama 'Mr Bates vs The Post Office' brought the issue to millions of viewers. Pamela said she hasn't yet completed all the paperwork for her compensation as she 'doesn't want to bring back' memories of the scandal. 'I am in an alright sort of place at the moment', she said. 'I don't want to bring it back. But I know that if I want my claim to go forward, I have to finish all this paperwork. I will do it, just in my own time.' To listen to the full episode, where Pamela remembers her Post Office being robbed at gunpoint when she was five months pregnant, search for 'The Apple & The Tree' now, wherever you get your podcasts.

Homes evacuated and man arrested after 'bomb found near Post Office'
Homes evacuated and man arrested after 'bomb found near Post Office'

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Homes evacuated and man arrested after 'bomb found near Post Office'

Homes have been evacuated and roads closed in a Welsh town centre after reports of an 'active bomb' near a Post Office. A bomb squad was dispatched to a residential street New Dock Road in Llanelli, 11 miles north-west of Swansea. Officers have set up a cordon on five roads around the Post Office, which locals said was busy with police activity since this morning. Explosive ordnance disposal experts were called in and five roads have been cordoned off. Multiple locals told Metro they had heard reports of a 'bomb'. Officers arrived shortly after 6pm and set up a rest centre at Llanelli Leisure Centre for impacted residents. Dog groomer Georgia Fuller, who was evacuated from New Dock Road, claimed to Metro that police had said there was an 'active bomb' by the 'post office'. She added: 'It is not nice, they have cordoned all the roads off, it is a bit scary.' Another local told Metro that people are being evacuated after 'explosives' were found nearby. More Trending They added: 'It is really busy at the moment. They are evacuating the street. Everyone is saying different things at the moment.' A 57-year-old has been arrested on suspicion of offences under The Explosive Substances Act and is currently in police custody. Dyfed-Powys Police said on X: 'We are carrying out a warrant at New Dock Road, Llanelli. A 100m cordon is currently in place for public safety. EOD (explosive ordnance disposal) is on their way. 'Please follow the direction of officers at the scene for your safety. More info will be shared when it is available.' Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Woman arrested of 'murder' after boy, 4, found dead inside Maidenhead home MORE: British woman accused of smuggling drugs in Angel Delight sachets says she was 'framed' MORE: Mum of murdered footballer 'wishes she had a wand to get rid of knife crime'

Brits reveal most expensive holiday mistakes from £30 Coca-Cola to £80 t-shirts
Brits reveal most expensive holiday mistakes from £30 Coca-Cola to £80 t-shirts

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Brits reveal most expensive holiday mistakes from £30 Coca-Cola to £80 t-shirts

Take the quiz to see if you are an 'international money master' HOLIDAMAKERS have revealed some of the most expensive things they've bought by accident - in another country. A poll of 2,000 travellers found one had mistakenly stumped up £30 for a single glass of Coca-Cola in Rome, while another bought a t-shirt for £80 that they thought was £10. Advertisement Try out the clever Post Office quiz Three in 10 felt they have often paid more for something on holiday because they were a tourist. Other shocking expenses accidentally incurred by respondents included a single shot of whiskey ending up at £48. While someone else forked out £25 for a taxi ride in Amsterdam – only to find themselves arriving at their destination after less than a mile. The research, carried out by Post Office, showed travellers often suffer with currency confusion, as a fifth (21 per cent) admitted to getting confused about how much money is worth 'in pounds' when they go away. Advertisement Which leads to a quarter (26 per cent) paying more than expected for something. Six in 10 correctly knew £5 sterling would get them between $6-$7 in the US, the remaining 40 per cent were clueless, with a quarter (24 per cent) of them guessing they'd get less than $6. Probably the most common conversion for Brits – euros – also confused respondents, with almost a third (32 per cent) not knowing what £5 would get them. Instead of the correct answer of €5-€6, 17 per cent thought it would be less than €5 and 13 per cent thought it would be as high as €8. Advertisement With nearly four in 10 (39 per cent) attempting to work out local currency rates in their own heads, it's no wonder things can go wrong. While just over one in 20 (six per cent) will ask somebody nearby and then take their word for it, according to the figures. Laura Plunkett, head of travel money at Post Office, which commissioned the research to raise awareness of its Travel Money Card said: 'Our research reveals many travellers overestimate their ability to mentally convert currencies on the go, and that can lead to overspending. "We wanted to highlight how easily confusion around exchange rates can impact holiday budgets - no one wants to waste time abroad worrying about money. Advertisement "It's surprising that only 19 per cent of travellers use a prepaid travel card for their spending abroad when it can allow travellers to lock in a good rate before travelling." The study found respondents are taking measures to stop them accidentally spending a fortune on holiday keepsakes – with 17 per cent relying on currency conversion apps. And when it comes to money safety, they are taking measures to keep their money more secure while travelling – with 49 per cent using a separate card which is not linked to their main bank account for spending abroad – keeping their 'main funds' safe from fraudsters or thieves. Laura Plunkett for Post Office, which has a Travel App which allows holidaymakers to check exchange rates and track spending in real time, added: 'Nothing disrupts a holiday like a financial mishap. Keeping your travel money separate from your main account is a smart move to give you greater control, clearer visibility of what you're spending, and an extra layer of protection – and something 96 per cent of respondents agreed was important. Advertisement 'Whether you're budgeting carefully or just want to avoid mixing travel purchases with everyday costs, this small step can make a big difference to your trip.'

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