Small businesses in Bradford are being urged to make a New Year's resolution and report all crimes to the police.

The call comes from the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) after its Yorkshire and Humber Policy Unit held talks with the Government Office in Leeds, about possibly setting up a regional crime board.

The board would be a partnership between businesses, the police and anti-crime agencies.

The FSB, which has more than 700 members in Bradford, conducted a recent survey which revealed that 58 per cent of Yorkshire and Humberside small businesses are victims of crime each year.

However many of the businesses admitted they had not reported the crimes, giving a range of reasons that included fears about increased insurance premiums, a lack of hard evidence to give to police and concern that the police would be unable to make an arrest.

In its New Year message the FSB called on the Home Office to ensure police give business crime the same priority as domestic crime.

The FSB, Government Office and various police forces throughout the region have held a series of workshops in the past 18 months discussing how they can tackle what is described as an epidemic of crime against small businesses.

FSB Yorkshire and Humber policy unit chairman Chris Glen said: "We are not critical of the police or the Government. We understand the parameters within which they are working but we would like to see business crime given a similar key performance indicator as domestic crime.

"As part of our campaign, small businesses in Bradford must ensure that they report all crimes against them to the police in 2006. The authorities need to appreciate what a devastating effect burglary, vandalism, fraud and violence are having on small enterprises and the wider economy.

"Regional crime boards exist in other parts of the country with separate sub committees for addressing different elements such as cyber theft, vandalism and so on but we are in the early stages and must see how talks progress."

The call is among a series of measures which the government is being asked to act upon by the FSB. Among the others are reducing red tape, clamping down on late payers while delivering on a promise to speed up cheque clearance times and ensuring more small business representation on decision-making bodies.