Nearly a third of hauliers are at risk of collapse as new Covid lockdowns in China could spark further financial difficulties, research has found.

Credit score analysis carried out by Norwich-based accountancy firm, Price Bailey, revealed that 30pc of the nation's haulage companies were within the maximum risk category, meaning that they are highly likely to be subject to winding up petitions or intention to dissolve notices in the next 12 months.

Over the last year the number of hauliers considered maximum risk has doubled, rising to 28,557 from 14,020 at the end of March 2021.

John Warren, a partner at Price Bailey, said that the number of haulage companies at risk of insolvency has increased due to higher fuel prices and struggles to recruit new drivers.

He said: “Hauliers are facing a perfect storm of record fuel costs and high wage demands. In isolation these would prove a difficult challenge but in combination they are likely to prove fatal to many haulage businesses.

“Haulage is a low margin business. In many cases the fuel price rises we have seen over the last month will have completely wiped out any profits hauliers would have made on margins of just a few percent.”

Although haulage firms have been particularly badly hit, a growing number of businesses in all sectors are at risk of insolvency.

In the first three months of this year there was a 19pc increase in companies in critical financial distress, with those within the construction and hospitality significantly impacted, according to insolvency firm Begbies Traynor.

Mr Warren believes that the situation may get worse before it gets better, especially as the currently lockdowns in China to prevent the spread of Covid will also impact businesses' revenue.

He said: "Manufacturing is dropping in China, so there is going to be less production coming over in the next few months, which will hit everybody I think, not just hauliers.

"There are a lot of boats not having cargo to pick up in China because it's not there, so they'll come into the UK and there won't be the goods that are available to bring into the UK market.

"I was talking to one of my haulage client’s this morning who was saying exactly that so suddenly the market could change quite quickly."