Manchester car dealership Lookers plc said on Thursday that its chief operating officer Cameron Wade “has resigned from the board and is leaving the company with immediate effect.”

Wade had been in the role for a little over a month.

The new came two days after Lookers postponed the announcement of its annual results — which were due on Wednesday — because it has discovered “potentially fraudulent transactions in one of its operating divisions.”

In a stock exchange statement on Tuesday, Lookers said: “In the final stages of preparing its results for the financial year ended 31 December 2019, the company has identified potentially fraudulent transactions in one of its operating divisions.

“As a result the board has decided to postpone the announcement of its results until the second half of April.

“Whilst the initial findings are not material in the context of the group, the board is appointing an external adviser to lead a full investigation into the matter.”

Wade joined Lookers in December 2016 as franchise director of the group’s Audi Division.