THE Post Office should be removed from compensation schemes linked to the Horizon IT scandal, the Commons business and trade committee said today.

The company is “not fit for purpose to administer any of the schemes of redress required to make amends for one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in British history” and must be replaced with an independent body, it said in a report.

Chairman of the committee Liam Byrne said it was a “national disgrace” that “only £1 in £5 of the budget for compensation has been issued” to subpostmasters.

He said: “Justice delayed is justice denied. And bluntly justice has been denied to our innocent subpostmasters for far too long.

“It’s high time for the circus of recent weeks to end and for cheques to start landing on the doormats of innocent victims.

“We now know the Post Office knew of problems 20 years ago.

“Yet at best, only £1 in £5 of the budget for compensation has been issued. That is a national disgrace.”

The Post Office has been under fire following the ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office, which put the Horizon IT scandal under the spotlight in January.

Post Office chief executive Nick Read has also been accused of supplying “misleading evidence” to MPs relating to the company’s use of non-disclosure agreements and PR firms.

Mr Byrne said company bosses were in “utter disarray” following bullying allegations made by the company’s former chairman Henry Staunton against Mr Read.

“To guarantee this scandal drags on no longer, we have to enshrine into law an idea proposed by Mr Bates, of legally binding timetables for payouts,” he added.

“Any new Bill that the government presents to Parliament must now pass the ‘Mr Bates Test’ of legally binding timeframes for settling justice.

“Finally, we have to make sure that fast compensation is fair compensation.

“Otherwise, we risk innocent subpostmasters [facing] a new prison of poverty. We cannot and must not let that happen.”

The Post Office said it would have no objection in relinquishing its role in delivering redress to victims.

More than 700 subpostmasters were prosecuted by the company and handed criminal convictions between 1999 and 2015 after Fujitsu’s faulty Horizon system made it appear as though money was missing at their branches.

Hundreds are yet to receive compensation despite the government announcing those who have had convictions quashed are eligible for £600,000 payouts.