The son of an Oxford postmaster wrongfully convicted of stealing from the Post Office said he felt 'mixed emotions' after an ITV drama spurred government action.

Varchas Patel’s father, Vipin, who ran the Horspath Post Office for five years, was charged with stealing £34,000 from the Post Office and convicted of fraud.

He was given an 18-week suspended prison sentence in 2011 with an electronic tag for two months.

His total Horizon generated losses amount to £77,000 - potentially more - and he had to cash in his Royal Mail pension, sell his wife’s family heirlooms consisting of wedding gold Mrs Patel was passed down over three generation and borrow money from his sister to cover profound discrepancies.

But he was blameless, with the ‘missing’ funds actually the result of an error in the Horizon IT software. 

Mr Patel’s conviction was quashed by Southwark Crown Court in 2020.

Reports suggest that after ITV broadcast Mr Bates vs The Post Office last Sunday 50 new potential victims approached lawyers.

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And, three years after Mr Patel was cleared, ministers were scheduled to meet on Monday (January 8) to consider measures to clear the names of hundreds like him who were wrongfully convicted.

Varchas Patel said​: “My mum and dad are really pleased that it has raised public awareness, and they’ve received good wishes from local people which is really, really nice.

“But they are still battling for compensation. 

"There has been no payment at all from the government despite my father’s conviction being quashed and the court saying my dad had no stain on his character.

“I’m angry it has taken a drama to speed things up but pleased as well – a mixed bag of emotions."

Mr Patel said his father had been left disabled and 'bedridden' after the years-long ordeal.

He said: “My dad's 70 and he’s been in hospital on two occasions in the past seven or eight months. He has a heart condition.

"I am concerned because of his bad physical health, we do not know what is around the corner.

“But his mind is still good and I support him a lot with his fight against the post office.

“My mum has been running Horspath Stores. If it wasn’t for mum the whole house of cards would have collapsed.”

Last year Varchas told the Oxford Mail: “I was 23 when my father was prosecuted. I saw the prison officer come upstairs to the flat and put an ankle tag on my dad.

"It was horrendous to see my dad in bed. It was me, my sister and my mum who were forcing him to get out of bed. He couldn’t face the world.”

His father was ‘confused, lost and stressed’, he said, adding that the family suffered "racial slurs, intimidation and harassment".

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Mr Patel said he supports a petition calling for former Post Office boss Paula Vennells to lose her CBE which has attracted more than one million signatures.

"I cannot fathom... what honourable service she has provided to the Post Office," he said.

The Post Office is wholly owned by the Government and a public inquiry into Horizon is ongoing.

Scotland Yard said on Friday that they are "investigating potential fraud offences arising out of these prosecutions”.

On Monday, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak sought to defend the Government’s response but said he wanted to speed up the compensation process for victims.