Chancellor Alistair Darling this morning unveiled a £50bn rescue package that would lead to the government taking equity stakes in UK banks to ease the liquidity crisis they are currently facing.

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) said this is the "ideal opportunity for the government to enter into a constructive dialogue with the banks about commercial practices and charges to small businesses".

FSB national chairman John Wright said: "Almost half of our members have seen an increase in the cost of finance over the last year. It is crucial in these tough times that small businesses have access to fair overdraft and loan rates.

"Today's announcement should be coupled with assurances that more money will be made available to small businesses to help sustain them and get them through the next year."

One printer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that access to funding was a more pressing urge in the current climate.

"We need to see banks lending to small businesses as a matter of urgency," he said.

"As a cyclical industry we need to borrow at times to get us through the quieter periods. I think there will be a lot more fatalities if the loan markets are not sorted pretty quickly."