Post Office minister and Malton and Thirsk MP Kevin Hollinrake says he hopes wronged postmasters might be able to get compensation by August this year.

Mr Hollinrake told the Commons' Business and Trade Committee which met today that he was determined to ‘slim down’ bureaucracy for sub-postmasters as much as possible.

He welcomed Post Office boss Nick Read's promise to ‘streamline’ the process ‘because there was some very concerning evidence ... about some of the complexity, some of the delays in responses, that shouldn't have happened’.

He added: “I think it’s incumbent on all of us involved in this process to try and accelerate every part of the process.”

Mr Hollinrake made his comments at the same Commons Business and Trade Committee hearing at which Alan Bates, the former subpostmaster who led the campaign for justice in the Horizon scandal, appeared.

Mr Bates, who was at the centre of the ITV drama that recently catapulted the scandal to the political fore, criticised the ‘madness’ of delays in compensation. He said financial redress for those affected was ‘absolutely bogged down in red tape’ and that people were ‘dying’ waiting for payments.

The 69-year-old, who is part of the Group Litigation Order Scheme, said his own compensation process was beset with delays.

"I think it was 53 days before they asked three very simple questions,” he said. “It's madness, the whole thing is madness.

"And there's no transparency behind it, which is even more frustrating. We do not know what's happening to these cases once they disappear in there."

Last week, Mr Hollinrake told the BBC’s Any Questions programme on Radio 4 last Friday that he felt those responsible for the Horizon scandal at the Post Office should be jailed.

Quizzed on the radio discussion show he said prosecuting and locking up those responsible would be the 'ultimate deterrent'.

People found to be to blame for the scandal 'must be held to account' after the official inquiry reaches a verdict, he said.

He told the Any Questions audience: "If it's individuals, those people can be criminally prosecuted, potentially, and potentially can go to jail,” he said.

"I think we'd all like to see that kind of route taken. People must be held to account."