The number of businesses which fail has increased by more than 15 per cent during the first three months of this year, a survey reveals today.

During the first quarter 10,803 businesses went under, compared with just 9,360 in the final quarter of last year, according to business information group D&B.

Wales saw the biggest increase in firms failing over the same periods, reporting a 44 per cent jump in the number of liquidations and bankruptcies to 439.

It was followed by the South West where the figure was 35 per cent higher at 1,148 and the North East, where it reached 1,406 - a 34 per cent increase.

The only area to record a decline in the number of businesses running into difficulties was London, where the figure fell by just under five per cent to 1,416 during the first three months of this year.

The East Midlands also fared well with only a one per cent increase in firms going under, while in the North West the number was up seven per cent.

However, Philip Mellor, senior analyst at D&B, said: ''Part of the increase is due to the low base which these figures have been compared.

''Last year, the first quarter figures were the lowest they had been for nearly ten years.

''Compared with the previous year, this quarter's figures are only marginally above the total for the first three months of 2000, which was 10,710. So we will have to wait until the next quarter to be quite sure that the business failure trend is running significantly upwards.''

The group found that small businesses were hit harder than larger companies during the first part of the year, with a 21 per cent increase in bankruptcies of small firms, compared with a ten per cent rise in the liquidation of larger ones.