Charging decisions relating to lawyers involved in the Post Office scandal are not expected to be made until late 2027, it has been revealed.

The police team investigating the Horizon IT scandal yesterday revealed that they have interviewed five individuals under caution and will interview three or four in the first quarter of next year.

Those interviewed come from a pool of 53 people of interest identified by investigators as part of phase one of the police inquiry. This phase is focused on civil and criminal lawyers working for the Post Office in the past 25 years as well as investigators and members of the Post Office security team.

But the National Police Chiefs’ Council said it is likely to wait until the Post Office Inquiry makes its second report into the scandal before making recommendations to the  Crown Prosecution Service. That report is not expected until next year, pushing charging decisions well into 2027.