Lancashire businesses suffering from crime are being called on to report the incidents to the police.
A new report from the Federation of Small Businesses shows that 41.5 per cent of North West small firms have not reported the crimes they have suffered.
Thousands of businesses were quizzed as part of the federation's Lifting the Barriers to Growth survey, which also showed the North West as the fourth highest hotspot for crime in a total of 12 UK regions.
The survey showed a further 46 per cent did not report incidents to police because they did not have confidence in the police catching the culprits.
Last year the figure stood at 28 per cent.
Paul Henly, North West policy manager, said: "The government has tried to tackle crime against small businesses in recent years but our research shows that employers want visible measures such as more police rather than simply locally funded crime prevention measures."
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