A new report from the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has revealed the true extent of crime and its impact on businesses in the South West.

The report found that in the South West, almost a third of small firms have been the victim of a traditional crime such as theft, criminal damage and assault. In addition, around a quarter of small firms in the region have been hit by some form of cybercrime including phishing, malware and data theft.

Overall the figures indicate that almost half of small firms in England and Wales have been the victims of crime in the past two years - equating to around 2.5m smaller businesses.

As a result, the FSB is now calling on the Government to urgently tackle crime against small businesses as a priority and to help plug the £17 billion they say is being lost to the economy every year.

Sam Holliday, FSB development manager for the Gloucestershire and Bristol (pictured), said: "These surprising and shocking figures show the immense pressure that small firms are under and the hugely damaging effect of business crime on individual businesses and UK productivity as a whole. The money that businesses are losing at the moment is money many small firms simply cannot afford to fork out.

"In our report, small firms tell us they really need help from all the authorities and for this to be seen as a police priority. Of those smaller businesses that have experienced at least one crime, just over a fifth told us they did not even report it to any authorities. The most common reason given for this was a lack of confidence in the police's ability to respond. So it's time that the new administration increases the capacity and capability of police forces in England and Wales."

Mike Cherry, the FSB's national chairman, said: "Over the next five years, we want to see progress towards hiring around an additional 85,000 police officers which can be used to tackle some of the criminal acts that are costing businesses billions every year.

"The recent announcement of an additional 20,000 extra police officers is a step in the right direction, but much more needs to be done. The availability of more police officers and resources is a critical step in ensuring that crimes are both prevented and investigated."