Region has worst crime spot for businesses

Businesses in Halifax are more likely to be targeted by criminals than companies based anywhere else in the country, according to one of Britain's largest insurers.

Bradford and Leeds also feature in Axa's Business Crime Index, a list of the UK's top 20 business crime hotspots in 2009.

The survey found that one in 15 businesses with Halifax postcodes made insurance claims during the year, compared with the national average of one in 37.

It is the second successive year that Halifax has headed the list. Bradford has moved up from 19th to fourth and Leeds has fallen from sixth to 15th.

Four Yorkshire towns and cities – Wakefield, Huddersfield, Sheffield and Doncaster – have dropped out of the top 20.

The survey found that reports of business crime fell slightly in 2009 but violence was involved in more than half of incidents.

Almost half of respondents said they felt their businesses were more vulnerable to crime than they were a year ago.

Business owners blamed a "lack of respect", a "lack of community spirit" and the recession.

Axa's head of customer risk management, Doug Barnett, said: "Clearly it is good to see business crime coming down, albeit by a very tiny amount at this stage.

"However, we are alarmed to see the levels of violence reported and equally the levels of concern among business owners that they may become victims.

"We have been in discussion with the Home Office over the last year and will continue to urge them to take business crime seriously."