Alex Chalk answered questions about the government's position in between meetings with senior judges to discuss ways to accelerate the appeals of those convicted in the Horizon scandal.

An announcement is expected this week - with Mr Chalk saying he expects to be able to make "further announcements shortly".

The government is facing fresh calls to act following the airing of ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office which returned the spotlight to the scandal.

Between 1999 and 2015, more than 700 Post Office branch managers were convicted after the faulty Horizon software made it look like money was missing from their shops.

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Mr Chalk was speaking in the House of Commons on Tuesday amid the backlash to the handling of the scandal.

Former cabinet minister Nadhim Zahawi urged him to bring forward a bill to quash all the convictions; Mr Chalk said the suggestion was "receiving active consideration".

Sir Robert Buckland, himself a former justice secretary, has repeatedly called for similar measures.

He asked Mr Chalk to "now consider the exceptional and unique step of legislating to quash the convictions".

Mr Chalk said: "It is truly exceptional, it is truly unprecedented, and it will need an appropriate resolution."

Sir Robert told Sky News earlier that he wants to see convictions removed from those impacted so compensation can be paid.

With Sir Keir Starmer yesterday indicating he backed the idea of emergency legislation, Sir Robert said something could be passed "within a week or so".

Speaking to Sky News, Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride said his colleague, Mr Chalk, was having discussions with "senior members within the justice system to see what can be done to expedite and accelerate" those appealing their convictions.

"This is something that is happening hour by hour. It's not something that's going to happen next week. It is happening right now. And we intend to move quickly," said Mr Stride.

"It's really important that we do this because a lot of people clearly have suffered not just financially, but in terms of their mental health and relationships and their standing in the local communities and so on.

"We are moving now at very considerable pace."

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Two former justice secretaries have called for legislation to override the convictions, although other options mooted include a mass appeal, or removing the Post Office from the appeals process.

Postal minister Kevin Hollinrake met with Mr Chalk yesterday to discuss the way forward. Speaking in the House of Commons on Monday, Mr Hollinrake said they had "devised some options for resolving the outstanding criminal convictions with much more pace".

He said then that legislation to create a presumption of innocence had been considered.

Considerable compensation has already been paid out to some of those impacted by the scandal, and more money is expected to be released in the future.

Asked if Fujitsu, the company which developed the software, would be required to contribute to compensation rather than it all coming from taxpayer coffers, Mr Stride told Sky News this would be decided following the conclusion of the independent inquiry into the scandal.

The prime minister's spokesman said that Fujitsu would be "held to account, whether legally or financially" if it is found to to be responsibly for the scandal. Fujitsu developed the Horizon software which was at fault.

Many of the sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses were jailed, bankrupted and in some cases, took their own lives - but so far only 93 convictions have been overturned.

A Fujitsu spokesperson said: "The current Post Office Horizon IT statutory inquiry is examining complex events stretching back over 20 years to understand who knew what, when, and what they did with that knowledge.

"The inquiry has reinforced the devastating impact on postmasters' lives and that of their families, and Fujitsu has apologised for its role in their suffering.

"Fujitsu is fully committed to supporting the Inquiry in order to understand what happened and to learn from it. Out of respect for the inquiry process, it would be inappropriate for Fujitsu to comment further at this time."

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Mr Stride reiterated the government's position that it would support the Honours Forfeiture Committee if it decided to look at removing ex-Post Office boss Paula Vennells's CBE.

He also said Sir Ed Davey, the leader of the Liberal Democrats and who was postal minister during the coalition, had questions to answer about his actions at the time.