The Dyfed-Powys police and crime commissioner has labelled crimes against businesses in the area “an untold story” after official figures revealed that almost a thousand crimes were recorded at companies in the region in just five months last year.

Christopher Salmon said he was aiming to cut the number of offences carried out against companies, the true cost of which was unknown.

In a bid to identify the real extent of the issue Mr Salmon has instigated a survey of Welsh business leaders, hoping company bosses will reveal their experiences of crime.

He said: “I want businesses across Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire and Powys to tell me what they need to stay free from crime.

“Researchers will phone them on my behalf to ask a few simple but significant questions.

“Business crime is an untold story here; its cost is unknown – I urge business people to be as forthcoming and frank as possible with their views.”

Mr Salmon’s survey started on January 25 and will run until the end of February.

Questions include:

*How much of a problem is business crime in your area?

*How do crimes impact on your business?

*How good a job do the police do in dealing with crimes against businesses?

*Could the police do more to help you protect your business from crime?

*How would you like to work with the police to reduce business crime?

Recent data revealed that, in England and Wales in 2014, more than 4.1 million crimes affected the wholesale and retail sector alone.

In the five months up to August last year 966 crimes were recorded with a Dyfed-Powys business address as the victim.

The region has more than 25,700 enterprises but detailed crime statistics for them do not exist.

Mr Salmon said: “Understanding the problems faced by business is crucial to help improve the service provided by the police. My survey relies on the voluntary co-operation of businesses so I do hope they will be able to take part.”

He has appointed Swansea-based independent research company ORS to conduct the survey. They plan to use a balanced sample of at least 800 enterprises.