A former sub-postmaster in north Essex has called for the 'shouting match' between a former Post Office chair and the Government to stop and Horizon victims to be properly compensated.

Ian Warren, who ran the Post Office at Castle Hedingham, feared the plight of employees wrongly convicted during the IT scandal was being overshadowed by the war of words between Henry Staunton and business secretary Kemi Badenoch.

Earlier this month, Mr Staunton said he had been told by the Government to 'stall' on compensation payouts.

READ MORE: North Essex sub-postmaster's joy at ITV Horizon series

But Ms Badenoch said the claims were 'completely false' and accused Mr Staunton of spreading 'made up anecdotes'.

On Tuesday, Mr Staunton, a former pupil at Ipswich School, gave evidence at the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry during which he said he had been the victim of a 'smear campaign'.

The former chair - who was sacked by Badenoch - also alleged that an investigation into him was actually into the current Post Office chief executive Nick Read, who had earlier denied that he had been asked to slow down payments by the Government.

READ MORE: Suffolk: Subpostmaster 'not fully compensated' for Horizon

East Anglian Daily Times: Former Post Office chair Henry Staunton pictured giving a speech during an Ipswich School speech dayFormer Post Office chair Henry Staunton pictured giving a speech during an Ipswich School speech day (Image: Ipswich School)But Mr Warren echoed other sentiments expressed by Mr Staunton - that the real victims in the whole saga were being lost - and he cited figures from national media that 251 sub-postmasters had died without receiving compensation.

The Horizon programme was found to have 'bugs, errors and defects' which led to the Post Office staff being wrongly convicted of a range of offences, including theft, fraud and false accounting. 

READ MORE: Suffolk news

Mr Warren was forced to plead guilty to stealing approximately £18,000 and was given a six month suspended sentence by Chelmsford Crown Court in 2009, which meant he was unable to work and forced to give up his membership of the Institute of Chartered Surveyors.

He said: "Why are we in this shouting match with the sub-postmasters dying every other day because they are all getting old?

"My case goes back to 2008 so I have been waiting a long time and other people have been waiting two decades for this to come to fruition.

"A lot of people have been a hell of a lot worse off than I have. They have gone to jail or been made bankrupt. There are a lot more people that are worse off than me."

He said although he had received some compensation, he was due more and was set to be meeting his legal representatives this week to progress his claim.

The Fujitsu programme was found to have bugs in the software.