SMALL businesses in East Lancashire are at risk of losing thousands of pounds by not protecting their computer systems against deadly viruses.

Company bosses have been accused of "burying their heads in the sand" every time a new strain like the Anna Kournikova or Love Bug hits the area.

Recent research revealed that nine in every ten small firms in the area mistakenly think they have invested enough in virus protection.

The average amount they guess it would take to undo the damage caused by a virus is little more than £1000 -- about a tenth of the real cost to most small companies when downtime is taken into account.

The research was commissioned by PC World Business who say that only 30 per cent of companies thought they would be able to cope well in the face of a computer virus hit.

Richard Millman, marketing director, commented: "Viruses strike unannounced and cost millions of pounds in lost intellectual property and disruption to productivity.

" They should be treated seriously, but companies do not seem to be factoring this into their IT planning. We would advise a 'prevention is better than cure' approach and call for this to be a priority for 2001 for all small businesses in Britain. "

The survey also discovered that key decisions about setting up IT systems were driven by budget limits rather than the actual needs of the business or its employees.

In the North West, half of all small to medium-sized businesses admitted they would basetheir IT infrastructure purely on costs. Only a third were likely to place the needs of their employees ahead of other considerations.