A former Penrhyndeudraeth sub-postmaster wrongly imprisoned when auditors said there was a £53,000 discrepancy in the books of the village post office has spoken of his ordeal with the House of Commons Business Select Committee.

Dewi Lewis, who ran Siop Dewi, was jailed in 2011.

A senior county councillor with responsibility for the economy in Gwynedd at the time, he resigned from his role and paid back the money after his then 84-year-old father remortgaged his house.

He received a 16 month jail term, of which he served four months, and had to wear a tag for four months.

His conviction was quashed in August.

On Tuesday, 5 November, Mr Lewis gave evidence to the House of Commons Business Select Committee and alongside Sir Alan Bates and Jill Donnison. They called on the government to ensure compensation is paid urgently.

The UK Government say they are working to secure “full, fair and speedy compensation" for the sub-postmasters. Mr Lewis said he was trying hard not to be cynical, but part of his compensation payment appeared in his account following his House of Commons Committee appearance announcement.

More than 900 subpostmasters were prosecuted between 1999 and 2015 after faulty Horizon accounting software made it look as though money was missing from shop accounts.

Commenting on the timing of a recent £200,000 compensation payment, Mr Lewis said: “Until last week we had no inkling of when we’d even get the initial payment. Lo and behold, it was announced that I was going to be in front of you… surprise surprise, Friday morning, the £200,000 had arrived. I try not to be cynical but I’m finding it very difficult.”

Mr Lewis was told as a councillor he would be arrested and made an example, and was “strongly advised” to plead guilty.

He said his parents had both died since the ordeal, he had gone through a divorce and takes anti-anxiety medication.

Despite his ordeal, he said he was “one of the lucky ones” who served in Her Majesty’s Prison Altcourse.

He felt more for his parents visiting him than he did for himself, but “there were postmasters that had to go through far worse prisons than Altcourse,” he said.

MP Liz Saville Roberts MP said: “Dewi Lewis has suffered immensely because of the Post Office Horizon scandal. So why is Dewi and other former sub-postmasters in his position still having to fight to get the money they are owed?

“From one government to the next, and following a budget, Dewi and others are still fighting. It should be clear and simple for all those sub-postmasters that are still suffering; how much money they are owed, what they need to do to get it, and that nothing is lost on the way.

“I call again on the new government to move ahead with compensation without delay so that victims of the post office scandal can finally draw a line under this injustice and move on with their lives.”