Village without postmaster as Horizon scares applicants

A VILLAGE has been left without a Post Office because of the Horizon IT scandal.

The post office counter in the picturesque seaside village of Nefyn in Gwynedd, north Wales, closed last September.

But news of the difficulties sub-postmasters have had with the Horizon IT system, and more recently, the ITV drama Mr Bates vs the Post Office have seen to it that the counter remains shut.

A note posted inside the Spar Madryn Shop states: “Due to the demands of the Horizon system, coupled with the recent horror stories, we are finding it increasingly difficult to secure members of staff willing and able to man the counter.”

Nicola Wood, supervisor at Madryn Shop, said that interest in taking over as sub-postmaster disappeared after the ITV drama aired earlier this month.

The show laid bare the plight of hundreds of former sub-postmasters who had been falsely accused of fraud because of faulty accounting software that incorrectly showed money was missing from branches.

Ms Wood’s sister, Lorraine Williams, 56, from Anglesey, had previously been wrongly convicted of false accounting by the Post Office.

Ms Woods, 47, said: “I don’t like the Post Office anyway because of what my sister has gone through. I knew what was going on, but many didn’t.

“It’s a big responsibility, and especially now, knowing that the Horizon system is faulty, or has been faulty, they just don’t want to work on it.”

The Post Office said it wanted to see justice for those who were wronged during the Horizon scandal.

Liz Saville-roberts, the local Plaid Cymru MP, recently told the House of Commons that the Nefyn Post Office

‘I don’t like the Post Office because of what my sister has gone through. I knew what was going on’

partly closed because staff “no longer trust the computer systems”, and that she believes the same thing is also happening in other communities.

The nearest Post Office to Nefyn is now more than five miles away in Tudweiliog, Pwllheli.

The Post Office said: “The recent ITV drama movingly depicted a shameful period in Post Office’s history.

“Nevertheless, we welcome it and its effect in encouraging victims of the Horizon IT scandal to come forward, and in precipitating justice for all those who have been wronged.”