The Government today launched a nationwide consultation exercise aimed at stopping criminals robbing the UK economy of £19bn every year.

Business crime outweighs crime against individuals by two to one, often because it is perceived to be "victimless".

Home Office minister John Denham acknowledged the scale of the problem by launching the first consultation of its kind.

The Government would even consider forming a business crime unit if industry demanded one.

The consultation exercise was welcomed in the region, which suffers an estimated £1bn of crime alone.

Michael Bird, chief executive of the North East Chamber of Commerce, said: "Business crime is particularly severe on small businesses.

"If some business has a really bad hit with some kind of fraud or some kind of excessive vandalism, time in, time out, they close down. These are extreme cases but they destroy jobs and they destroy livelihoods."

The immediate business owner is not the only one to suffer, with employees and the wider community also affected.

"It is a very severe issue for employment and the community as a whole," said Mr Bird.

"It is not as if business is victimless. Businesses are made up of people, they are not made up of money or bricks and mortar.

"People suffer as much from crime if they are in business as if they are in their own home."

Businesses of all kinds, from construction and finance, down to the local corner shop, are being asked for their views on working with Government and others to tackle the problem.

The 12-week consultation, which starts today, marks an important step towards reducing crime that affects the business community.

Mr Denham, Minister for Crime Reduction, said: "We all know that crime is bad for business. All crimes which affect society in general affect business too, and the knock-on effects of higher crime rates and unemployment can be damaging for entire communities.

"We will consider all responses very carefully and, if there is sufficient interest, there is a strong possibility that we will establish a business crime unit aimed at developing a centre of excellence within the Home Office to further develop initiatives to reduce business related crime."