YOBBISH behaviour is costing businesses more than £1.3bn a year, according to a survey.

Clearing up vomit and urine, repairing smashed shop windows, erasing graffiti and sweeping broken bottles and litter-strewn streets cost each firm which was affected an average £2,300 during last year.

High street shops are worst hit, but all sectors of industry lose cash, according to the survey by insurance giants, Royal & SunAlliance.

The poll showed 37 per cent of Britain's businesses have fallen victim to yob behaviour, with high street shops the worst affected at 44 per cent.

Larger businesses are even more vulnerable.

Those employing 50 to 99 people, 59 per cent of businesses, are experiencing the highest levels of yob behaviour.

And two per cent of businesses surveyed, an estimated 10,000 companies, are contemplating closing down altogether.

Brendan McManus, commercial director at R&SA, said: "Yob culture is causing a very real problem across the UK.

"It is worth remembering that not everything can be covered by insurance, while some damage is simply not worth claiming for, such as petty theft or broken windows.

"It is both shocking and sad that so many businesses are blighted by growing yob culture to the point that some are thinking about closing."

altogether."

Pollsters surveyed 500 of the UK's four million firms to give a snapshot of how yob behaviour is affecting business.

The findings backed the experiences of R&SA's own claims handlers and risk surveyors, the firm said.

There were no similar surveys from the firm from previous years to determine whether yob behaviour affecting business was getting worse.

There were also no figures in the survey on how much some British firms profit by actually selling alcohol - widely regarded as the "fuel" behind much yob behaviour.

The survey did not ask firms their opinion on the effects of government proposals to allow pubs to open 24 hours a day.

Firms were asked if they had been affected by yob behaviour, defined by the pollsters as small scale theft, broken windows, graffiti or intimidation.

In rural areas, 27% of firms said they had been hit by yobs, but 42% had been hit in urban areas.

Regional variations also show differences in how much it costs to clear up after louts.

Businesses in Scotland lose out the most. Yob behaviour costs affected businesses north of the border over £7,000 a year on average, and one in 10 affected Scottish businesses claims it has cost them more than £50,000.

This is followed by; the East of England, (average cost to firms £3,000); then London and the South East of England (£2,500); North West (£1,200), Midlands, (£1,000); North East and Yorkshire £500 and South West and Wales £500.