A MALE estate agent is claiming he was forced out of his job by girl power.

Ray Staples, 62, says he was subjected to sustained abuse as the only man in the all-female office he worked in for two months.

Mr Staples says the women made his life hell and told him that no real man would want to do his job.

He is now taking his former employer, Royal and Sun Alliance Property Services, to an employment tribunal.

The hearing at Newcastle was told that the women had called Mr Staples stupid and had driven him from the job.

Mr Staples told the tribunal: "I was the only man on a sales team of about 30 staff, and from the very first day I got the feeling that the girls didn't like it. Nobody would believe what these women put me through."

Mr Staples, a father-of-three from Seaton Delaval, North Tyneside, started a part-time job as a property negotiator in August 1999, but was sacked two months later.

He is taking action against the company for alleged sexual discrimination.

A spokesman for Royal and Sun Alliance said: "He was dismissed for unsatisfactory performance and was not discriminated against."

The tribunal will announce its decision at a later date.