Business failures in the area have bucked the national trend by falling.

According to information firm Experian the number of insolvencies in the region dropped in 2002 when compared to 2001.

The City of London, Northern Ireland and Yorkshire and Humberside were the only areas in the country which saw a fall in insolvencies.

A total of 1,488 businesses failed in the region, a decline of three per cent on 2001. The number accounted for 7.9 per cent of the total for the UK.

Experian's research also found the number of company insolvencies in the area during the last quarter of 2002 was down 15.9 per cent on the fourth quarter of 2001 at 360.

Nationally, the number of businesses failing rose by 9.8 per cent to 18,926 - an increase of 1,691 on 2001.

Compulsory liquidations, where a court order is gained by a creditor, member or director, rose by a massive 37 per cent in the UK in 2002.

Phil Cotter, managing director of Experian's commercial business, said: "Whilst the survey revealed a very small decline in the number if business failures between the third and fourth quarters of 2002, the sharp rise in compulsory liquidations is particularly worrying. Overall, there has been a steady increase in the number of business failures throughout the year, with particular areas of the country and industry sectors suffering significantly more than others."

Nationally failures in the business services sector increased by 9.9 per cent, failures among engineering companies rose 11.3 per cent, information technology firm failures rose 26.1 per cent, failures in the telecoms sector increased by 33.3 per cent, while insolvencies in the media sector rose by 8.9 per cent in 2002.