The cost to Sussex's smallest businesses of putting new legislation into practice has more than doubled since last year.

A survey of business advisers published by the Institute of Chartered Accountants showed that regulation is considered the most serious barrier to growth for the county's small businesses.

Advisers estimate that the cost of red tape now amounts to between four and six per cent of turnover for smaller businesses.

The annual cost to firms with ten staff or less has jumped from £1,700 to £3,600.

For businesses employing up to 50 staff, the cost has risen from under £5,000 to more than £8,000.

Even sole traders face costs of around £1,000 a year.

The effort needed to comply with regulation is also causing difficulties.

Forty-three per cent of advisers to micro businesses and 40 per cent of advisers to sole traders said that compliance diverted resources and time away from essential business planning.

The results also suggest that smaller businesses risk accidental non-compliance because they lack the knowledge and resources to handle the volume and complexity of regulations.

Regulation is stifling the growth of businesses at an early stage, according to 17 per cent of the advisers surveyed.

Smaller businesses are often reluctant to take on staff because of the weight and complexity of employment legislation and the risk of legal action by current and former employees.

The Institute's enterprise liaison officer for the South-East region Frank Pyne said: "Red tape's stranglehold continues unabated. Not only does the volume and complexity of regulation eat into the resources of small bus-inesses, but it also absorbs far too much time that could be spent more valuably on survival and expansion."