"This is good news'...80 detectives to investigate the Post Office scandal

SCOTLAND Yard will oversee a team of 80 detectives in four regional hubs to investigate the Post Office scandal.

- Robert Kellaway

Officers will target senior Post Office officials and executives at Fujitsu, the company that made the faulty Horizon software.

The team will consider if offences of fraud, perjury or perverting the course of justice were committed.

The Metropolitan Police has already started discussions with prosecutors about potential criminal charges.

It is understood they will focus on whether senior executives knew the Horizon system was to blame while pushing subpostmaster prosecutions through the courts.

The four centres will have staffing resources similar to a major murder or terrorism investigation.

Grant

Police have asked the Government for a special grant of at least £6.75million to fund the operation.

Lead campaigner Alan Bates, who met with senior officers on Wednesday as former PO chief executive Paula Vennells gave evidence to the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry, said last night: "This is very good news. I knew the operation was going to have a very large team working on this.