SOMEHOW I suspect estate agents around the country were jumping up and down in front of their TV sets last night as their profession got a real pasting in ITV's new comedy drama Sold.

It portrayed a bunch of trendy house-shifters as the most unscrupulous bunch of cowboys.

Rather than the branded company cars, this lot should have all been given horses and 10 gallon hats!

If estate agents really behaved like their TV counterparts, no-one would ever bother to try and move house.

Now you could argue that the profession has brought such ridicule on itself - estate agents rarely feature highly on anyone's list of favourite professionals'.

But s someone working in a profession which is equally villified, I feel it only fair to mount a defence.

I know from watching how TV portrays newspapers how the wrong impression can be given out.

The classic example was Ken Barlow, newspaper magnate on Coronation Street who not only edited the Weatherfield Gazete, he took all the pictures and even sold all the adverts. Believe me it couldn't happen.

Anyway, I wouldn't discourage you from watching Sold - it's quite amusing in parts, although Kris Marshall will forever be the bloke of the BT advert.

Just don't look upon it as a documentary!