Bradford has been placed third on a table which ranks the country's business failures.

Bolton and Manchester hit the two top spots, while Bradford came in at third with 3.49 per cent of its firms going bust during 2001.

The poll, which was conducted by R3 - the Association of Business Recovery Professionals, found 194 of the 5,565 registered firms in Bradford went to the wall.

Together Bolton and Manchester lost 828 firms in 2001.

R3's 11th Business Recovery survey found firms in the north are more likely to fail than those in the south.

David Buchler, president of R3, said: "Companies in the North West are being hit hard by the decline in the manufacturing sector and this, coupled with the effects of the global downturn, has led to such high levels of insolvency.

"In what appears to confirm the existence of a North-South divide, businesses in Bradford, Halifax and Dudley are the next most likely to call in the insolvency experts, whereas companies in the South are far less likely to go to the wall."

But Bradford Chamber of Commerce said business in the city was on the road to recovery since 2001.

Sandy Needham, the Chamber's Chief Executive, said: "The news is no doubt disappointing, but we would hope that things have improved since then.

"The last 18 months have seen a significant number of start-ups in the district - higher than elsewhere in the region, and so it's important that these firms receive the right kind of support to change the figures."

Businesses in south west London are least likely to go under, according to the survey, with just one per cent going bust.

Firms in Lancaster, Canterbury, Torquay and Dorchester had a good chance of success in 2001 - with, on average, one in 85 going bust in these cities.

Mr Buchler said: "The south appears to be riding the downturn with some success.

"The power of consumer spending seems to stoked the southern economic boiler.

"Although London, particularly in the City, has experienced round after round of job shedding, these companies seem to have survived by cutting overheads and slashing budgets."

The poll found managers in Scotland outperformed their counterparts south of the border.

The survey revealed firms in Scotland are nearly half as likely to go bust than their English counterparts. Only one in 92 companies failed in Scotland in 2001, compared to one in 50 in England and Wales.