The sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses convicted in the Post Office scandal should have their convictions quashed, a Swindon MP has said.

Sir Robert Buckland, a former Justice Secretary and practising barrister, said "nothing short of a removal" of the convictions would suffice.

He added that the Post Office should be banned from making prosecutions.

A faulty computer system called Horizon made it appear that money was missing at post offices across the country, and the Post Office prosecuted 736 people between 1999 and 2015.

Some were imprisoned, many were ruined financially and some even took their own lives.

A review of the convictions has begun but only 95 have been overturned so far, according to the Post Office minister Kevin Hollinrake.

It was brought back into the public domain after an ITV drama starring Toby Jones aired last week.

On Wednesday, Rishi Sunak said blanket legislation would be introduced within weeks to exonerate postmasters en masse.

The Prime Minister labelled it "one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in our nation's history".

Now, in a letter to the Times, South Swindon Conservative MP Mr Buckland said: “As the sheer scale of the miscarriage of Justice that has befallen hundreds of sub-postmasters continues to shock our country, such an exceptional situation requires an exceptional solution.

“Nothing short of a removal of these convictions, obtained because of a clear abuse of process by the Post office will now suffice.

“In the first instance, that organisation should no longer be allowed to conduct prosecutions.”

The Post Office was able to pursue sub-postmasters under the private prosecution process, where bodies other than the CPS are able to bring a prosecution to court.

It is used by other bodies, such as the RSPCA bringing animal cruelty prosecutions.

Mr Buckland's letter continued that even while a public inquiry is conducted: “We should recognise these exceptional circumstances by asking Parliament to pass legislation that deals with the individual cases by exonerating the victims: there should be a presumption that they are all not guilty.

“Such legislation would help right a clear wrong.

“Too many sub-postmasters have already died without seeing justice being done; so there is no more time to lose.”

The usual method for overturning a conviction would see the Criminal Cases Review Commission sending it to the Court of Appeal for a hearing.

But the unprecedented scale of the Horizon scandal means the Government is introducing the legislation route rather than relying on a potentially lengthy court process.

Justice Secretary Alex Chalk has been discussing the situation with senior judges because of the constitutional concern about Parliament being seen to interfere with the legal system.