A PETITION calling for former Post Office boss Paula Vennells to be stripped of her CBE over the Horizon scandal has attracted more than one million signatures.

Demands for the Honours Forfeiture Committee to remove her CBE have emerged again after ITV aired a new drama into the scandal, which has been described as the most widespread miscarriage of justice in UK history.

Ms Vennells oversaw the organisation while it routinely denied there were problems with its Horizon IT system.

The petition is backed by Bradford man Gregory Harding, who was affected by the scandal and wrongly convicted. 

The petition, which is addressed to Sir Chris Wormald, the chair of the Forfeiture Committee, says: "Evidence has been produced that the Post Office engaged in a mass cover up which led to the wrongful prosecution of 550 Post Office staff, many of whom were subsequently jailed, bankrupted and, in some cases, sadly took their own lives.

"Having been handed a CBE for services to the Post Office, and moved out into other senior positions in Government and healthcare, it is only right that this award is now withdrawn through the process of forfeiture."

The Post Office is wholly owned by the Government and a public inquiry into Horizon is ongoing.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has confirmed a report that Justice Secretary Alex Chalk is considering ways of helping to clear the names of convicted sub-postmasters caught up in the scandal.

More than 700 Post Office branch managers were given criminal convictions after faulty Fujitsu accounting software called Horizon made it appear as though money was missing from their shops.

There has been fresh public backlash to the scandal after ITV aired a drama starring actor Toby Jones last week about the scandal.

Reports suggest since Mr Bates Vs The Post Office was broadcast, 50 new potential victims have approached lawyers.

Speaking during a visit to Oxford on Sunday, the Prime Minister said the UK Government was "keen to do everything we can because this was absolutely appalling" and should "never have happened".

Today, Mr Sunak's spokesperson said the Prime Minister would "strongly support" the Honours Forfeiture Committee if it decided to look at revoking Ms Vennells' CBE.

Ms Vennells said she was "truly sorry" for the "suffering" caused to sub-postmasters who were wrongly convicted of offences.

The Post Office said it "sincerely apologises" to the victims.

Scotland Yard said officers are "investigating potential fraud offences arising out of these prosecutions".