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Lee Castleton is the first person to sue both organisations following the biggest miscarriage of justice in UK legal history.

“I want justice and to be publicly vindicated,” Mr Castleton told the BBC.

Mr Castleton was sued by the Post Office for £25,000 that it said was missing from his branch in Bridlington, East Yorkshire, in 2007. He was declared bankrupt after a two-year legal battle that cost him £321,000.

He said he did not have faith in the compensation schemes established by the Post Office for those wrongfully convicted in the scandal.

“Lee faced a David versus Goliath battle against the Post Office and we are fully ready to take this all the way to the high court should we need to,” his lawyer Simon Goldberg, from Simons Muirhead Burton, said.

“It was never about recovery of the sum of money — it was to make an example of Mr Castleton.”

A Post Office spokesperson said: “We recognise that many victims of the Horizon IT scandal continue to be impacted by their experience.

“Post Office is committed to doing all we can to help those affected get closure. We cannot comment on ongoing legal proceedings but once we receive the claim, we will engage fully in the process.”