An estate agent has quit as president of a respected trade association after being caught breaking rules on handling customers' accounts.

Mark Packwood decided to stand down from the Brighton and Hove Estate Agents' Association after breaching Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) regulations.

Mr Packwood, owner of Hove-based Packwood Property Services, insisted his firm had not misused clients' money and the offence was merely technical.

He decided to quit the association to avoid embroiling fellow members in any embarrassment or disrepute.

The offence relates to clients' accounts into which landlords' money was paid directly, rather than kept in PPS coffers.

However, in some cases where PPS had paid money to repair properties but had not yet been able to recoup the cash, the accounts were in deficit.

The total shortfall was more than £100,000. RICS regulations bar members from keeping "deficit balances".

RICS raised concerns after noticing the deficits in year-on-year accounts Mr Packwood had filed.

He argued he was trying to bring the accounts back into the black by stepping up the demands on clients owing money.

Of the 500 properties PPS manages, ten were responsible for almost half the sum.

Mr Packwood said: "A lot of our properties are Victorian buildings which do need a lot of work done and a lot of money spent on them.

"We've tried to maintain a balance between what needs doing and what we can budget for but if urgent work is required you have to do it.

"We're writing on a monthly basis to clients who have money seriously outstanding but not many people have thousands of pounds immediately to hand.

"We can put things right but it can't be done immediately and the RICS did not find our figures acceptable to them. Technically, the rules say we shouldn't have any deficit balances.

"Clearly, the estate agents' association has standards to maintain and resigning is the right thing to do. I don't want to involve them in my difficulties."

Mr Packwood took formal leave of the association at a meeting on Thursday night, five months after being elected president.

Mr Packwood, who started his firm in Hove Street in 1991, said: "I am frustrated but I am also disappointed with myself for bringing the trade into difficulties."

He stressed that money already in his clients' accounts was not threatened at all.

A RICS spokesman said: "There are strict rules RICS members have to abide by when it comes to ethical business behaviour.

"If complaints are made, there are a range of sanctions we can take, from reprimands to fines to throwing someone out."