BUSINESS Secretary Jonathan Reynolds denied “exacerbating” subpostmasters’ trauma today after the Tories said that fewer than one in six of those wrongly accused have been sent letters confirming that their convictions have been quashed.

Between 1999 and 2015, more than 700 subpostmasters were prosecuted by the Post Office and received criminal convictions because Fujitsu’s faulty Horizon IT system made it appear that money was missing at their branches.

Shadow business minister Jerome Mayhew used business and trade questions in the Commons to accuse the government of “sitting on the letters.”

Mr Reynolds denied “passing the buck to anyone” after blaming the delay on a Ministry of Justice database problem.

He insisted that the issue was a priority for the government and that as of August 30, 130 letters quashing more than 370 convictions had been sent out.

“I think that is real progress since the election,” the Business Secretary said, while adding: “It’s not fast enough for me. We’ll continue to push that and continue to do that.”