ALMOST a third of small firms in the region have been the victim of crime such as theft, criminal damage and assault.

And nearly a quarter have been hit by some form of cybercrime, new research shows.

A report from the Federation of Small Businesses found that “traditional” crimes had cost the average businesses more than £14,000 over the past two years, costing the economy in England and Wales up to £17billion. There were up to 3.9million cyber crimes.

In the south west, 32 per cent had been the victim of a traditional crime, while 23 per cent had been hit by cybercrimes like phishing, malware and data theft.

It follows separate research naming Dorset among the top five areas in the UK for an increase in business crime.

Research by Ebuyer, using freedom of information requests, found that there had been a nine per cent rise in reported thefts from businesses since 2015.

Nicola Bailey, the federation’s development manager covering Dorset, said: “These are uncertain times for all firms and with ever-increasing costs, business crime is a problem that is devastating firms across the country.

“On average, those businesses affected by traditional (non-cyber) crime in England and Wales have suffered costs of around £14,000 over the previous two years. This is money that many small firms simply cannot afford to fork out.

“Of those smaller businesses that experience at least one business crime, just over one fifth did not report an impactful crime to any authorities.

“The most common reason given for this was a lack of confidence in the police, so it’s time that the new administration increases the capacity and capability of police forces in England and Wales

“Over the next five years, we want to see progress towards around an additional 85,600 police officers hired which can be used to tackle some of the criminal acts that are costing businesses billions every year.”

She added: “The availability of more police officers and resources is a critical step in ensuring that crimes are both prevented and subsequently investigated.

“This sort of action will not only benefit small businesses but the wider economy and the country as a whole.”

Almost half of small businesses in England and Wales had experienced at least one business crime over the past two years. The federation says this equates to around 2.5m businesses.

Its data puts the number of individual crimes against small businesses at 7.7m.

It wants more police officers hired and for police and crime commissioners to make business crime a priority.