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Former Post Office boss Paula Vennells is handing back her CBE with immediate effect after facing mounting pressure over the Post Office Horizon IT scandal.

Ms Vennells has long faced questions over her role in the scandal, which has been described as one of the most widespread miscarriages of justice the UK has seen. More than 700 sub-postmasters were prosecuted based on information from faulty software. Some people went to prison for false accounting and theft, while many were financially ruined.

It comes after a petition calling for her to hand back her CBE exceeded a million signatures following the broadcast of the ITV drama 'Mr Bates vs The Post Office' - based on the real-life story of postmaster Alan Bates who drove the campaign to expose the Post Office Horizon I.T. scandal.

Shaun Dooley played the role of Michael Rudkin from Ibstock in the ITV drama. The former sub-postmaster and former chair of the 'National Federation of Subpostmasters' lost his job and union position. His wife Susan had been wrongly convicted of stealing money. The family had to turn their Ibstock home into a bed and breakfast for a source of income.

Michael has been telling Ben Jackson his reaction to the ITV drama and what it has done for victims like him.

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