A SUB-postmistress from Stroud caught up in the Horizon scandal has spoken out about her ordeal and says she is still waiting for compensation.

Nichola Arch was spat at in the street and stopped going outside after being falsely accused of stealing thousands of pounds while managing Chalford Hill Post Office.

Speaking this week after her case was mentioned in Parliament, Ms Arch said: "I am so relieved that the Post Office scandal is finally receiving the media and national attention it deserves.

"It has destroyed so many lives.

"I'll keep working with Stroud MP Siobhan Baillie on this as while I think it's good to see the Post Office boss hand back her honour and things like that, I really don't want there to be a loss of focus on the victims.

"I'm still waiting for my full compensation and I want to get on with my life with my family."

Ms Baillie is now urging the government to simplify compensation after addressing Post Office minister Kevin Hollinrake in Parliament last Monday, January 8 on behalf of Ms Arch.

"As my honourable friend knows from meetings and debates, Nichola Arch moved me to tears when she described the public shaming and abuse that happened in our usually kind Stroud constituency at the time of the scandal," said Ms Baillie.

"Her grown-up child has only ever known her as the post office lady fighting faceless corporations who lost jobs and her house in the meantime.

"Given how people were treated and their losses, there is no one type of victim.

"That makes the issue hellishly complicated and it is really difficult to compile evidence.

"Will my honourable friend use the national energy now behind this case to work with his excellent officials, who have worked incredibly hard on this, to simplify the schemes yet further?"

Ms Hollinrake replied saying: "I thank my honourable friend for her question and her work on behalf of Nichola Arch, whose case is one of the most prominent in this scandal.

"She is right to say that assessing loss is complicated, which is exactly why I work with officials.

"I agree with her description of them as excellent - they are just as passionate about delivering compensation as members of this House.

"We are working on a daily basis."

Ms Arch managed Chalford Hill Post Office from 1995 until she was suspended in October 2000 when the faulty Horizon software showed money was missing.
She was charged with fraud and theft and faced a trial at Bristol Crown Court after pleading not guilty. 

The theft charges were eventually dropped and she was found not guilty of fraud. 

But despite the acquittal, she lost her business, income, home and reputation.

Ms Arch gave evidence as part of the ongoing public inquiry into what has been described as one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in British history.

During the hearing Ms Arch said: "I went to the local supermarket and it was silent when I walked through the door. 

"One day I got spat on twice, it was all in my hair. 

"I felt like everyone was talking about me. 

"I was the lady who stole off elderly people - that was how the public perceived it.

"So I stayed indoors and never went out."

More than 900 Post Office workers were prosecuted between 1999 and 2015 after Horizon falsely showed that money was missing from their branches, with many being jailed.

There has been a public backlash after the case was highlighted by the ITV drama Mr Bates vs the Post Office earlier this month.

Commenting on Ms Arch's case, a Post Office spokesperson told the SNJ: "We fully share the aims of the current public inquiry, set up to get to the truth of what happened in the past and accountability.

"We are deeply aware of the human cost of the scandal and are doing all we can to right the wrongs of the past, as far as that is possible.

"Both Post Office and Government are committed to providing full, fair and final compensation for the people affected.

"To date, offers of more than £138 million have been made to around 2,700 postmasters, the majority of which have been agreed and paid.

"Interim payments continue to be made in other cases which have not yet been resolved."