People who use the internet to download films illegally are compounding the biggest threat to the movie industry in the current era, it has been stated.

A spokeswoman for the UK Film Council revealed that real jobs are threatened by the trend to get hold of videos online and against the law, with approximately 40 million people at risk of losing their employment due to the popularity of pirating.

She continued: "It costs the UK industry around £530 million a year and is threatening the livelihoods of our highly skilled workforce. The industry is working hard on a number of fronts to control the problem, including enforcement and education."

However, the representative highlighted the UK Film Council's partnership with the government in order to tackle the issues of copyright theft and infringement, setting up a Film Task Force in recent years.

According to a report commissioned by Respect For Film, it is believed that fully-effective action against movie piracy could increase the economic output of Britain by £614 million and create some 7,900 jobs for the economy as a whole.

More than half of small businesses (53 per cent) believe that the most important benefit of outsourcing is guaranteed response times for IT support. London-based Connect conducted the research in 2007.