THE number of business failures have declined in the North-East - bucking the national trend.

Worsening economic conditions have helped to send almost 33,000 UK businesses to the wall so far this year, figures reveal.

Business information company D&B said the nine-month tally of company collapses was the highest for three years.

Only two regions saw business failures decline, with the North East down 0.4 per cent at 4,186 and the East Midlands 3.7 per cent lower at 1,772.

Firms in the West Midlands have borne the brunt of the slowdown with 15.8 per cent more bankruptcies and liquidations, while companies in the South-West and South-East also struggled to stay afloat.

Larger companies appear to have been harder hit than smaller firms during the economic strife of the first nine months of the year.

Senior analyst at D&B Philip Mellor said the figures brushed aside signs of an improvement in corporate fortunes.

He said: ''Last quarter we had strong hopes that the rate of business failure in Britain had started to decline.

"I believe it would have done so but for worries about the continuing slowdown in the UK and other European economies."

The figures are the second worst since the end of the recession in 1994, but Mr Mellor feared a consumer spending slowdown could still ruin more firms.

Other badly affected regions have been the South West, where failures rose 11.8 per cent to 3,705, and the South East, following a 10.3 per cent increase to 5,851.

Business failures in Scotland, which has different bankruptcy regulations from the rest of Britain, have also climbed 10.7 per cent to 3,823, while London - often considered a barometer for the rest of the UK - rose 8.3 per cent to 4,113.

Elsewhere, failures in the North West increased 5.8 per cent to 3,820, Wales by 7.6 per cent to 1,243 and the Eastern region up by 0.7 per cent at 1,527.