Mr Bates vs The Post Office viewers left 'sick to their stomach' over new ITV drama based on true story

Viewers were left 'sick to their stomachs' after watching the first episode of ITV's new drama, Mr Bates vs The Post Office, which aired on Monday evening.

The four-part series began on New Year's Day and tells the true story of a decades-long scandal which saw hundreds of postmasters be wrongly accused of theft between 1999 and 2015. You can watch the trailer below:

The series stars Toby Jones as Alan Bates, one of the postmasters directly affected by the miscarriage of justice.

Along with his partner Suzanne Sercombe, the couple used their savings to buy a Post Office in Llandudno, North Wales in 1998.

But when they were accused of theft and fraud, the Post Office terminated their contract, meaning the couple lost their livelihoods, as well as £65,000.

At first, they were baffled over the accusations. But, the problem rested with a defective IT system called Horizon, which had been wrongly reporting financial discrepancies across Britain.

Out of all the postmasters and postmistresses affected, 736 were prosecuted, while others lost their homes, as well as thousands of pounds in savings and investments.

Despite warnings that there were serious problems with the system, some were even imprisoned, while many were shunned by their local communities.

ITV

Following the miscarriage of justice, which went on for many years, the drama follows how in 2009, a group of accused postmasters formed the Justice For Subpostmasters Alliance and took the Post Office to the High Court in a Group Litigation Order.

The judge ruled that computer errors were to blame in the scandal, resulting in many of those accused being exonerated and having their names cleared after two decades of fighting for justice.

Speaking of the scandal, Alan Bates said: “Over the years a lot of words have been written about how lives have been wrecked by an out of control government organisation, however they have never come close to expressing the true horrors that have been inflicted on people.

"I think this drama is the first time anything has come close to getting across the suffering many of the victims have had to cope with.”

ITV

Watching at home, many viewers were horrified at the story and 'sickened' over how many lives were affected by the scandal.

One wrote: "Less than 20 mins in and not sure I can watch this. Sick to my stomach #PostOfficeScandal."

While another said: "I’ve only watched 5 mins of #PostOfficeScandal drama and I’m shouting at TV. Not sure I can watch it!!!"

And a third added: "Vile how they destroyed the life of so many."

Episode two of Mr Bates vs The Post Office airs Tuesday 2 January at 9pm on ITV. Or, you can watch all four episodes on ITVX.