Former Post Office boss Paula Vennells will hand back her CBE following the fallout of the Horizon IT scandal which led to the wrongful prosecution of hundreds of subpostmasters.

The former chief executive, who ran the Post Office while it routinely denied there was a problem with its Horizon IT system, was appointed a CBE in December 2018.

It comes after demands for her to return the honour intensified after an ITV drama returned the widespread miscarriage of justice to the spotlight.

A petition calling for her to be stripped of the CBE had reached more than one million signatures earlier this week.

In a statement announcing her intention to return the honour, Ms Vennells said: “I continue to support and focus on co-operating with the Inquiry and expect to be giving evidence in the coming months.

“I have so far maintained my silence as I considered it inappropriate to comment publicly while the Inquiry remains ongoing and before I have provided my oral evidence.

“I am, however, aware of the calls from subpostmasters and others to return my CBE.

“I have listened and I confirm that I return my CBE with immediate effect.

“I am truly sorry for the devastation caused to the sub-postmasters and their families, whose lives were torn apart by being wrongly accused and wrongly prosecuted as a result of the Horizon system.

“I now intend to continue to focus on assisting the Inquiry and will not make any further public comment until it has concluded.”

One of the victims of the scandal was Castle Hedingham subpostmaster Ian Warren, who told this newspaper he was delighted to see the ITV drama aired.